Summary
Based on a book by Soviet writer Ilja Ehrenburg, this 1966 Czechoslovak-Austrian co-production offers three whimsical tales. Director Vojtěch Jasný guided this feature-film project in between duties directing the celebrated works Až přijde kocour (That Cat..., 1963) and Všichni dobří rodáci (All Good Countrymen, 1968). The trio of light-hearted historical tales from the pen of the unabashed West-loathing Ehrenburg is only politically neutral on the surface. All three show a simple pipe illustrating the laughable incompetence of the arrogant, archaic English. The first story features an actor so spellbound by his role that he ceases to be aware of the real world; in the second and third stories the pipe comes to symbolise adultery and impotence. This less-than-subtle co-production features a mixed cast. The film’s competitive screening at the Cannes Film Festival can be understood as a push by its foreign co-producer, following the previous screening of two of director Jasný’s films at the festival – namely Touha (Desire, 1958) and That Cat...
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