Humour-Salesman

Jiří Krejčík, 1984

Film at Filmový přehled

Summary

The last motion picture in the filmography of director Jiří Krejčík (1919–2013) is this satirical comedy criticising the downfall of culture and declining morals in socialist society. Right from the start of the era of “normalisation”, Krejčík was barred by the censorship apparatus from realising any works that might flow from his inner freedom of thought. He thus devoted most of his energy to television, only making cinema films infrequently (detective story Podezření [Suspicion, 1972], patriotic picture Božská Ema [The Divine Ema, 1979]). Prodavač humour (The Humour-Salesman), a drama made according to the novel by Roman Ráž, is centred on the head of a variety show agency, Jožin Petránek (Július Satinský). Given his fair-mindedness, Ráž has problems working with the committee that evaluates entertainers and artists. In the rough and chaotic world of showbusiness, where nepotism and manipulation reign, he cannot succeed... Evidence that Krejčík’s satire hit its mark is attested to by the fact that it was only released in limited distribution and could not be played on television until after the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
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Film data

About a film

Production year 1984
Countries Czechoslovakia
Categories film
Genres narrative
Form feature
Duration 102 min
Director Jiří Krejčík
Cast Július Satinský, Nina Divíšková, Yvetta Kornová, Radoslava Boháčová, Pavel Zedníček
Director of photography Viktor Růžička
Screenplay Roman Ráž, Jiří Krejčík
Editor Miroslav Hájek
Production designer Přemek Longa
Music Michael Kocáb, Jiří Kolafa, Pavel Vaculík
Sound designer Antonín Kravka