Summary
In the second half of the 1970s a number of comedies were produced that attempted, employing humorous detachment, to criticise the shortcomings of contemporary society, including petit bourgeois mores, bribery and the theft of socialist property. Such pictures, characterised by superficial, untargeted satire, emerged because vigilant censorship made genuine criticism impossible. One example was Hop – a je tu lidoop (Monkey’s Playtime), which was co-authored by Miloš Macourek. 1977 was a particularly productive year for the highly-regarded screenwriter, with three films based on Macourek’s screenplays reaching the screen. Alongside the noteworthy anti-war sci-fi film Zítra vstanu a opařím se čajem (I’ll Get Up and Scald Myself with Tea Tomorrow) (dir. Jindřich Polák), he also had a hand in the comedy Což takhle dát si špenát (How About a Plate of Spinach?), by his favoured collaborator Václav Vorlíček – and Milan Muchna’s Monkey’s Playtime. The latter was overshadowed by its two predecessors, mainly due to the person of the director, who was making his feature-length debut. While Mucha had directed one of the stories in Profesoři za školou (Teachers Playing Truant), the demands of a fairy tale-style fantasy full of effects proved beyond his range. Around the fairy tale figure of a genie in a lamp able to grant all wishes, Macourek created the story of crooked provincial butcher Tureček. He rips off his customers and dips into the till but attempts to cover up his cheating with the help of the genie, who allows him to turn adversaries into chimpanzees. The butcher’s daughter Blanka and her schoolmate Ondra put a stop to Tureček’s repeated cheating of the innkeeper Merta… While the older generation is capable of compromises and even fraud, the conscious youth in the film come across as naturally good and determined to make the world a better place. The film remains attractive thanks to its cast: the genie is played by Josef Kemr, while Josef Somr and Josef Vinklář take the roles of the adversaries; the youngsters are played by Vladimír Dlouhý and Monika Hálová.
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