Pleasures of the Father of His Country

Jaromír Hanzlík and Daniela Kolářová performed in not just one but two films inspired by the life of Emperor Charles IV: the romantic comedy Slasti Otce vlasti (Pleasures of the Father of His Country, 1969) and Noc na Karlštejně (Night at Karlštejn, 1973). However, in the latter film, a musical directed by Zdeněk Podskalský, they played only supporting roles while Vlastimil Brodský took on the part of the Father of the Nation. In Pleasures of the Father of His Country, directed by Karel Steklý to a script by Jan Procházka, the duo of Hanzlík and Kolářová play the central couple: young Prince Wenceslaus (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV) and his fiancée Blanche de Valois. The heir apparent undergoes a dramatic personal development from naïve love-struck youth to responsible man of action capable of raising the indebted Bohemian kingdom to new glories and of standing up to his authoritarian father, John of Luxembourg (John the Blind). The part of John went to Miloš Kopecký who also starred in another historical drama created by the Procházka-Steklý partnership; Svatby pana Voka (Weddings of Petr Vok of Rožmberk, 1970).