Summary
Prague’s Jára Cimrman Theatre made an impact on the big screen in the 1980s via three films: the crime comedy Rozpuštěný a vypuštěný (Dissolved and Discharged) (1984); Nejistá sezóna (Uncertain Season) (1987), a tragicomedy about a theatre company; and the mock biopic Jára Cimrman ležící, spící (Jára Cimrman, Lying Asleep) (1983). The unplanned “trilogy” presents a thoroughgoing testimony to the singular Czech phenomenon of the fictional ingenious Renaissance man Cimrman, his work and his creators. Zdeněk Svěrák and Ladislav Smoljak’s brilliant comedy reveals the life story of an unjustly forgotten genius, uncovers his achievements and places the protagonist in historical situations. Though Jára da Cimrman (1969/1874, Vienna – ?, Liptákov) may be a fictional character dreamt up in 1966, his creators provided him with a detailed biography, firmly set in the real Czech (cultural, scientific, political and skiing) context. Screenwriters Svěrák and Smoljak succeeded in transforming all of this organically into a narrative framed by a visit by a theatre scholar (Josef Abrhám) to the Liptákov Museum of Feathers. There an old guide (Valerie Kaplanová) introduces him to the story of Cimrman (Svěrák), divided into sections relating to the protagonist’s childhood, his inspiration of hopeless colleagues in various fields and his inventions, the credit for which he loses through chronic late arrivals at the patents’ office. Cimrman is also a friend of Czech celebrities and a patriot who has contributed to the Czech lands’ independence. The aging genius experiences bitter incomprehension before being overtaken in Liptákov by the end of the old times – the start of WWI… Jára Cimrman, Lying Asleep remains a playful, subtle mystification that not only involves ironic nostalgia for bygone times but also joins in the debate about the Czech character, patriotic icons and national dignity.
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