ENGLISH SECTION Festival Daily SPECIAL EDITION OF THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 45TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Friday, July 9, 2010 free • page 1 ENG day Bilingual program Crystal Globe recipient Schlockmeister Brian DIVÁCKÁ CENA / AUDIENCE AWARD for tomorrow DENÍKU Juraj Herz Trenchard-Smith Vote for the best film of the 45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival! (Czech Section: pages 6, 7, 8) page 3 8 page 4 (Czech Section: page 2) THE LOWDOWN
Thursday’s crowded Master Loving the alien Class, with Brian Trenchard- Smith, the master director of the films that make up the John Wells on the positive influence of television Ozploitation! section, and pro- ducer colleague Richard Brennan, amazed and amused Cóilín O’Connor, would say to me “I put the the crowds with stories of sleaze, Veronika Bednářová bumper on that truck,” when one slashers and the seventies. drove by, or “I could show you Ratings were always an issue Writer, producer and director the house that I built.” They in the race to make the most John Wells has come to KVIFF could show you something they money for the lowest budget, this week to present his film The did. But upper middle class especially when the rules of the Company Men starring Ben workers had no physical sense of genre Trenchard-Smith favored Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones. what they actually did. The only called for car chases, gore and This hard-hitting look at the way they could represent what topless women in abundance. impact of the economic crisis on they did to others was the money But Brennan recounted that the US middle class marks some- they had for the possessions they he once found a way to capital- thing of a new departure for the owned. “This is the car that ize on one of his film’s release affable American, who has previ- I drive, this is the clothing that dates at school break time, actu- ously made a name for himself I wear…” All this stuff… And ally managing to score a G rat- as the leading creative force as they lost that, they completely ing so as to maximize teen coin. behind hit TV shows such as ER lost their identities. I There were “a lot of bullets fly- and The West Wing. Was it easier to get ing,” he said, but “not a drop of a stellar cast for your first fea- blood.” I The election of a Hispanic ture because of your success By some amazing coinci- candidate as president at the with things like ER and The dence, it seemed that none of end of The West Wing was eeri- West Wing? the characters in that ly similar to the real-life elec- Well that helped. People sort Ozploitation flick ever man- tion of Barack Obama. Was of knew my work and I had the aged to hit each other in all their that purely coincidental? advantage of not being a first- many gun battles. “We per- I try very hard to have a lot of time director to the actors I was formed better than the second research done for the shows we working with… But the cast King Kong,” he recalled with work on. When we were trying actually came together to a large pride. to decide who that candidate degree because of the extraordi- Not quite so fortunate this would be, we asked the question: narily difficult economic times year was Prague-based pro- “If a minority figure were to in the United States. Usually, ducer Jefe Brown, who, in come through and win the presi- those actors would have had Photo: Jan Handrejch a bizarre arm wrestling acci- dency, would it be a woman, more options of things for them dent, managed to break his right a black character or a Hispanic TV supremo John Wells is presenting his debut feature The Company Men. to do. It was partly down to arm shortly after granting character?” Interestingly, all of there being very little work that a short interview to the Festival our consultants said that we were advance. I don’t ever want to of the fear out of the equation for interviews [for the script] we didn’t involve being in Daily. Another Prague-based much more likely to get take credit for anything in the reasonable people in the middle, found that the people who were a superhero movie. I’m not say- producer, John Riley, who was a handsome, articulate Hispanic real world, but I think we can who are just afraid because they most damaged, not necessarily ing that to be funny – action on hand to help get Brown to or black elected than a woman in make things which seem unlike- don’t know any different. I think economically, but emotionally, movies, horror movies, romantic the hospital, said this sort of the US – that we were still anoth- ly or unusual to the viewing that is a way in which we can be were not the blue-collar workers. comedies and superhero movies thing seems to happen to him er generation away from that audience much more acceptable, influential, particularly in televi- They had a real sense that they are the only movies that have all too often at film fests. “I’m being able to happen. And that’s because they feel emotionally sion, which comes into people’s had done something and that been made in the US in the last not spending another festival why we went in that direction. that they have seen it and they’re homes every day. There were they had a skill. They were year and a half… To give you an night at a hospital,” he swore. I Do you think you might not frightened by it. In the same African-American, Hispanic, pissed but they were not example, Tommy Lee [Jones] [email protected] have helped sow the idea of way, I think that entertainment in and gay characters on TV years unmoored, they weren’t lost. The was fitting the movie in between a minority president in many the US in the fifties and sixties before many people saw them in people who were lost were these offers to do Captain America people’s minds? was very important to the ulti- their own lives. men whose only way of seeing and Men in Black 3. Very few One thing we can do in enter- mate acceptance by the middle I For The Company Men, what they did was how much more serious films have been NOTICE: There will be two tainment and take credit for is class of racial changes in the did you deliberately set out to money they made. Because they made in the US in the last year unscheduled extra screenings making the alien and extraordi- country – because they saw in tell it from the point of view of had no connection with what and a half… We haven’t been today: Katka (1pm, Congress Teenage nary seem more likely and possi- film and television things that people who would have been they did. They pushed paper, making the American movies Hall, Thermal), and Paparazzo ble to people by showing them they weren’t able to experience quite affluent before the crisis? they were in insurance or in that are going to come and play (10:30pm, Karlovy Vary Theatre). I what things would be like in in their lives, and that took some When I went out and did the finance. The blue collar workers in your cinemas. I
EXPLAINER SEE YOU THERE So how did the Pupp become so Grand? Patrick Demers The sumptuous pad ed artisans of the 18th that is home to KVIFF’s century, commanding Director of Suspicions stars during the festival exorbitant prices and con- has been over 300 years siderable social respect. I would recommend seeing Of Gods and Men in the making. This mag- So, back to Mr. Pop in by Xavier Beauvois, one of my favorite French nificent pile has changed 1760. Pop came to directors. He has made some great films. As both name and shape as it Karlovy Vary to join the a fan, I would encourage people to go see his changed hands. The orig- renowned Mitterbach movies. I’d also recommend My Joy (by Sergei inal structure was family business, having Loznitsa), a Russian film which I’ve seen Burgomaster Deiml’s gained a reputation as already. I liked it because it touched me and the “Saxony Hall” from Count Chotek’s confec- themes it expresses are very clear and effective. 1701. Several years later, tioner. Business thrived, You cannot come out of this film without being The Grandhotel Pupp – home to the stars. the new mayor of and Pop, having fashion- swept away by the fact that the people in control “Carlsbad,” by the name of Becher (sound famil- ably Germanized his name to Johann Georg Pupp, in Russia have been abusing their power for iar?), built his Lusthaus (pleasure house) next door, married Mitterbach’s daughter in 1775. a long time. soon known as “Bohemia Hall.” Burgomaster Becher’s widow sold them a third of Then, in 1760, the promising young confectioner Bohemia Hall, and the following year the newly- Of Gods and Men screens today at 2pm in Jan Jiří Pop came to Karlovy Vary. To understand weds bought the rest. the Thermal’s Grand Hall. My Joy also the next part of the story, we need to know what it The new Pupp family prospered. A century later, screens today at 10am in the Čas Cinema. meant to be a confectioner in the 18th Century. The in 1890, they bought the original Saxony Hall. Over You can catch Patrick Demers’s Suspicions confectioner’s art has one crucial ingredient: sugar. the next decade the Pupps employed prolific today at 6:30pm in the Thermal’s Small Hall Along with cacao, spices, exotic fruits and nuts, Viennese theatre architects Fellner & Helmer to and tomorrow at 4pm in the Espace Dorleans sugar could only be found far from Europe. Hence, remodel the complex, creating the magnificent neo- Cinema. (COC) the confectioner was one of the most highly regard- Baroque Grandhotel Pupp. (PLC)
[email protected] FESTIVAL DAILY THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 45TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PAGE 2 ENG FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2010 Sidebar serves student snacks Karlovy Vary embarks on a musical odyssey Pavel Klusák contemporary music scene. In archive footage, the film por- this respect, I have to say that trays Polish musical insurgents The Media and Other Ghosts from the 1960s onwards, includ- How do you recognize a good was like a dream come true. ing hippies, punks and new- musical film? When leaving the This series of short films and wave decadents. There are also cinema you should feel you experimental videos by Julian fascinating stories from the time, have to start a band immediate- House engulfs you with a veri- such as the amusing anecdote ly. In this sense the undisputed table tsunami of childhood about the band Maanam who headliner of the 2010: memories of television pro- wrote a song about marching A Musical Odyssey section is grams, old magazines, textbook elephants, which was banned by Ride, Rise, Roar, a feature- designs, family movies and vin- the authorities because they length portrait of the inex- tage documentaries about thought it was a seditious allu- haustible David Byrne. The for- aliens. House mixes all of this sion to the Soviet invasion of mer Talking Heads frontman has into a stylish psychedelic col- Afghanistan. It also gives been lucky with filmmakers. lage accompanied by music Western audiences a chance to Photo: KVIFF Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making from bands like Broadcast and sample the sound of under- Romanian student film Derby screens today as part of the Fresh Selection. Sense (1984) about his old band The Focus Group. Incidentally, ground legends like Czesław has been repeatedly voted the House may already be known to Niemen, Kult, Republika, Lady Irena Hejdová which a man crosses the line from the festival valued for its infor- best concert movie of all time. some of you for his graphic Pank, Izrael, 1984 and Siekera. decent to savage and back again. mal, “fresh” atmosphere is mov- Music’s mad scientist is equally design work with Primal Whether you’re inclined more This short won two awards at ing from Karlovy Vary to Prague, well served by David Hillman Scream and Oasis. towards the vibrating Beyond Student films are often blighted Cannes, including the Petit Rail where at six venues it will offer Curtis’s documentary, which is Beats of Freedom (or “How Ipanema or the experimental with a reputation for betraying d’Or. Derby from Romania gives more than 200 films as well as a lively combination of engross- to Bring Down a Totalitarian poetics of The Media and Other a lack of skill and bearing the us a glimpse at the universal eye- concerts, theater performances ing concert footage and unique Regime with the Aid of a Home- Ghosts, 2010: A Musical scars of over-enthusiasm. Never rolling moment when a teenage and a Master Class by established insights into Byrne’s creative made Amplifier”) should res- Odyssey offers music fans fear! The Fresh Selection section girl brings her boyfriend home for director Petr Zelenka. Besides process. onate powerfully with Czech a chance to see the best collabo- offers an appetizing range of dinner and her dad just won’t stop student films, successful debuts David Byrne also features in audiences and people from rative projects between musi- movies by film students from this being “dad.” And the animated will be competing as they did last Beyond Ipanema, which takes countries of the former Eastern cians and filmmakers that have year’s Fresh Film Fest program. feel-good horror A Tear is year. One of them, the superhero an in-depth look at the populari- Bloc. Packed with precious been made in the past year. I These five perfect specimens have Needed from the Czech Republic parody Defendor, featuring ty of Brazilian music outside been carefully selected to give is a slick piece of work that was Woody Harrelson as the main Brazil, starting with the era of you a taste of the best new talent three years in the making. This character, refers to the central bossa nova and The Girl from around. Originality and technical collection of five films in the theme of this year’s fest, which is Ipanema before looking at its competence are the hallmark of Fresh Selection section features heroes. “Every film has a hero or influence on rock and electroni- the festival. The charming the best of contemporary student antihero and all that the Fresh ca. Besides Byrne, it includes Spanish miniature Infinite work from around the world. The Film Fest does is point its finger interviews with artists such Memory makes you wonder at programming department of the at the heroes, push them onto the as M.I.A. and Gilberto Gil what goes on in children’s minds, Fresh Film Fest was sent 1,172 red carpet and pull up the cur- among others. while the bittersweet comedy entries from 60 countries from tain,” says the artistic director of Movies screening in KVIFF’s Tidelanders from Germany takes which they assembled the pro- the festival Jan Stehlík. Don’t music-on-film section are us to an extraordinary family gram of the festival’s seventh miss it! selected according to two crite- reunion. The claustrophobic year. As in previous years, it will ria: they have to be good Australian production Deeper You can catch these five fresh movies and they must address take place at the end of the sum- Photo: KVIFF Than Yesterday, set on a Russian mer holidays, from August 25 to shorts at KVIFF on July 10, something substantial, some- submarine, looks at the points at 29. What is new is the location – 12:30pm, Cinema B. I thing that’s “in the air” on the Toppling communism with Beats of Freedom.
[email protected] FESTIVAL DAILY THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 45TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2010 PAGE 3 ENG Herz set on making black comedy FACES The big along with Veronika Bednářová name to watch actors Carl out for today Ng and Carlos is British Ernesto Koo When Juraj Herz, the master satirist Ayala, actress director of Gothic horror for over Christopher Lan Zhou, four decades, learned he would be Morris, producer honored with the Crystal who’s known Wang Yan, Globe for Outstanding Artistic Christopher Chi Zhang Contribution to World Cinema, Morris for his and a delega- his reaction was typical under- unflinchingly tion from the Cultural Affairs statement. “I’m not preparing for dark comedy. Having previous- Bureau of Macao. the grave,” he said. “I will make ly ridiculed such taboos as the Czech production designer movies, do theater, travel around British media’s pedophile hys- Jiří Sternwald returns to the world, eat and drink well and teria, the fact that Morris’ first KVIFF today, having been here have a good time with my girl- feature-length comedy Four before with films such as friend.” His many fans will rejoice Lions takes on the touchy sub- Autumn Spring (2001) and to hear that. As is clear from his ject of suicide bombings should Marta (2006). classic period piece Oil Lamps, come as no surprise. Lastly, keep an eye out for which screens tonight after the If you haven’t seen them yet, Relinde de Graaff whose film award ceremony, his vision is keep an eye out for the group is part of The Fresh Selection – a unique and compelling one. representing writer/director Chi The Promising Five; the young Zhang’s Diago, who are here Dutch filmmaker also tried her I Wasn’t casting popular until the end of the festival. The hand at editing in her movie Czech actress Iva Janžurová in group includes Zhang himself, Infinite Memory. I Oil Lamps in the 1970s quite a risk? Until then she had been Photo: Jan Handrejch regarded mainly as a comedian. Juraj Herz who is to receive a Crystal Globe for his outstanding contribution to cinema. CORRECTION: An incorrect caption was included with the She was a comic actress but photograph accompanying the article entitled Eastern promise I cast her in a serious role in my quite extraordinary. He was late, again after a two-year ban but who goes to a concentration beckons in yesterday’s Festival Daily. The picture actually depict- debut The Sign of Cancer in 1967. always in a white tuxedo, or he only on condition: that I would camp as a black comedy? How ed a scene from Adis Bakrač’s The Abandoned. I The film is interesting in that all came to the Intercontinental make one from a working class would that work? the erotic scenes were edited out Hotel in Prague sporting an SS environment. That’s how The Do you know why I am here but then the Italian producer Carlo hat and giving the Nazi salute Porcelain Girls was born. I was and can receive awards? They put Ponti bought it and insisted on while a conference on anti- told that I portrayed working us on the ramp to go to them being put back. So I went to Semitism was held there, causing class girls as whores because one Auschwitz. It was clear to me PRÁVO Audience Award Rome to shoot the scenes again a scandal. But on the other hand of them had an illegitimate child. what it meant... And then – all of Don’t forget to take part in this with all the actors. But back to he secretly brought me tea with I was looking for new faces from a sudden – they gave us a piece of year’s Audience Award competi- Current Standings Iva: 90% of comedians are excel- shots of alcohol during the shoot- “a working class environment,” bread and chased us back to the lent dramatic actors, but it doesn’t ing because drinking on the set is so I went to Brno. There among carriage for Ravensbrück. After tion (which runs until 10am, July 10). Pick up your voting cards work the other way round. prohibited in Germany. When we drama students I found Dáša. the war I found out that it only 1. The Hedgehog I whenever you see a film, and on In your latest movie, said good-bye he wet my shirt – I invited her for a coffee and she happened once during the whole 2. Sound of Noise Habermann’s Mill, which will he cried so much. was so great that I didn’t know war that they ran out of gas in the way out, tear the card at your premiere in September, you I How did you first cast which of the roles in The Auschwitz so they could not chosen place – 1 for Excellent, 3. Friendship! cast the enfant terrible of Václav Havel’s wife Dagmar Porcelain Girls to give her. She receive any more people. It was 2 for Good, 3 for Average, and 4. Women in Temptation 4 for Poor. Then hand the card to German cinema, Ben Becker. Havlová, who has appeared in then acted in six of my films. that precise week when I was sup- 5. For 80 Days Have you become friends, too? several of your movies? I Is it true you want to make posed to arrive. So I feel I owe a hostess, or drop it into one of He is a very original actor, I was allowed to make movies a film about a ten-year-old boy that film to myself. I the ballot boxes provided.
REVIEWERS RECOMMEND Ronald Bergan Film Historian and Critic, The Guardian (UK) Certified Copy Director: Abbas Kiarostami France, Italy, 2010, 106 min. July 9, 7pm, Pupp Let’s clear up a few things. This is not the first film that Iranian min- imalist master has made outside his own country, nor is it his first shot in Europe, as many commentators have stated. Nor has Kiarostami compromised himself by entering European “art cinema” with this study of an Englishman and a French woman acting at being married. Like most of his films, it is at once simple and complex, intimate and distant, full of insights into the nature of art, reality and fiction, society and human relationships. I Know Where I’m Going Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger United Kingdom, 1945, 92 min. July 9, 4pm, Drahomíra Cinema A modern folktale, without being folksy; an intoxicating blend of reality and mythology. A strong-minded English heroine (Wendy Hiller) who thinks she knows where she’s going; an equally willful Scottish hero with the splendid name of Torquil MacNeil, laird of the island of Kiloran (Roger Livesey). There is a castle, a whirlpool and an ancient curse. And the great set pieces – the wedding dress swaying to the sound of the train speeding towards the Hebrides, the dream sequence, the céilidh (a traditional Gaelic musical gathering), untamed characters silhouetted against the wild landscape… The Leopard Director: Luchino Visconti Italy, 1963, 185 min. July 9, 5pm, Grand Hall The gorgeous evocation of an era, in which the Sicilian Prince of Salina (Burt Lancaster giving a beautifully mellow performance) reflects sadly on the death of the aristocratic world and the rise of the crass bourgeoisie during the Risorgimento. This is reflected in the remarkable final ball scene, which takes up 40 minutes of screen time and involves 200 people in 14 inter- connected rooms. Originally released by 20th Century-Fox in a drastically cut, badly dubbed, reprocessed version, disowned by Visconti, it has now been restored to its full Technirama pristine glory. Jubal Director: Delmer Daves USA, 1956, 100 min. July 9, 10:30am, Lázně III One of three brooding Westerns which Daves made starring Glenn Ford, Jubal falls within the time period of the golden age of the genre from 1939 to 1956. Like many of the best westerns, it has a psycholog- ical complexity that stretches beyond the simplistic “good versus evil” premise. In this case, it is “Othello Out West,” with grim loner Ford as Cassio, Ernest Borgnine, the Moor, and Rod Steiger in the Iago role. Splendidly photographed in CinemaScope, it favors suspense over action, with violence kept in abeyance until the end. I
[email protected] FESTIVAL DAILY THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 45TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PAGE 4 ENG FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2010 The hottest director in town! WHAT AM I DOING HERE? Adis Bakrač (Director) Jaroslav Švelch Mira Furlan (Actor) The Abandoned Director Brian Trenchard-Smith’s films Dead-End Drive In and The Man from Hong Kong form part of KVIFF’s Midnight Screenings: Ozploitation! section. The films are featured in Mark Hartley’s documen- tary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! which is also screening at KVIFF.
I Has Mark Hartley’s film changed peo- ple’s perception of Ozploitation movies? Oh yes it completely opened the eyes of cin- ema-lovers all over the world to the forgotten treasure-trove of eccentric B-movies. B- movies have not always had much respect, but Mark Hartley showed that there was profes- sionalism, there was real creative invention that can be achieved within the B-movie budget and formula. I B-movies have a reputation for being all about sex and violence. Would you say that your movies pushed that genre in another direction? Dead-End Drive In has an undercurrent of political comment as well as classic exploita- Photo: Jan Handrejch tion values. It could have had more nudity. It Brian Trenchard-Smith gives two fingers to the establishment. could have had more violence, but to me that I What have the reactions to your film been like? wasn’t what it was about. It was a socio-politi- that it’s been rediscovered.” Hypocrites! It took Charles Bronson behaves like that! But I like to AB: I’ve heard lots of good things about my film and I’m happy cal allegory. You view the drive-in movie the- nine years for Not Quite Hollywood to get celebrate and satirize at the same time the con- about that. People have a real feeling for what I wanted to say with ater as society as a whole, where we are fed made. The funding bodies did not want this ventions of whatever genre I’m working in. my idea and my story. I wanted to tell a story about ordinary peo- junk values and we accept them because film to be made because it showed up their I think my best films happen when my inner ple who are victims of the war [in Yugoslavia] 15 years later. They they’re comfortable. I have a little private joke poor decisions. But Mark Hartley did a bril- child has been let free. are in great pain and very alone. in the film. My film Turkey Shoot was censored liant job – 6,000 images in 100 minutes. It’s I Your directing style seems to be very in the United States in a number of ways, but blisteringly fast, very coherent, and an incredi- “hands on”... I What are your plans for the future? there was a scene where the villain has his head ble compressed analysis of 100 films. Well, for me there’s no other way. That’s the MF: My life taught me not to make too many plans. We can and shoulder blown off by a hail of bullets and I Do you think the humor of your films joy of it. Obviously it is a collaborative process make plans but other forces decide on our life. My life is in the US that’s a shot where people go “woah!” The can be appreciated by European audiences and if you’re sensible you plug in to the col- now, but I love coming to Europe and I definitely feel I belong to MPAA snipped that out. Too graphic. Can’t today? lective intelligence of your fellow profession- European roots. Being here in Karlovy Vary reminds me of my have that. It’s bad for people. So I thought, It was great to see Czech audiences watching als and you include them in the decision-mak- grandmother who was a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. hmmm, I want American audiences to see that. The Man from Hong Kong, to see them laugh ing process. But someone has to lead and you Her world is slowly disappearing and I’m so nostalgic for that – the So I put it on the drive-in screen in Dead-End at the jokes and get the satire of James Bond lead by example. I’ve been hit by a car three culture and the intellectualism that I can’t find in America at all. Drive In and they didn’t notice. and the kind of thug hero who basically uses times. Went though the windshield once. I’ve That’s what I crave and that’s why being here feels like being at I Have there been very different reac- violence rather than reason. The satire of that been set on fire seven times. Generally as home. My deep, true home. tions from critics in retrospect? From critics kind of movie – they just got it. Whereas when a publicity stunt. Introducing the hottest direc- who didn’t like your films when they came it was first released people said, “This is just tor in town! I am circus ringmaster, group ther- Bosnian director Adis Bakrač’s The Abandoned (which had its out first... vile! Nobody behaves like that!” Well, actual- apist, brigade commander. It’s a military oper- world premiere at KVIFF last night) screens today at 1:30pm in Oh yes, there was great revisionist thinking. ly, James Bond, with a lot of gloss and budget ation. So yes, “hands on” is the only way the Lázně III cinema. (GP) They said “Oh, we always liked it. It’s so great and less graphic violence, behaves like that. I know how to make a film. I
ON THE TOWN Lázně III If you’re into “hardcore-rap” Promenáda (150-250 CZK) such as mush- Lázně III bands naming themselves room soup, are well worth the No phone things like “Censorshit” (proba- Tržiště 31 10am-10pm daily bly not after the Ramones ¤ 353 225 648 trouble, to say nothing of the splurge. Service is as impeccable This inviting little refuge from song), or “sweetnoise-funk” www.hotel-promenada.cz the pedestrian traffic on the prom- bands called “Shoecut,” or if Open daily from 11am till 11pm as the cuisine, of course. enade is handy for a coffee and you’re just curious as to what John Malkovich thought it pret- U Švejka cake (55-70 CZK), with a tempt- sweetnoise-funk is, check out ty fair, as did President Klaus - Stará Louka 10 ing collection of cheesecakes, the W Club tonight from 9pm neither of whom are culinary (Nákladní 13). ¤ 353 232 276 sachertorte and fruit pies. Or set- slouches. But the Promenáda tle into one of the sofas at the And if you do go, don’t worry www.svejk-kv.cz doesn’t need to name drop; it’s South end of this streetside café if you see a crumbling nightclub been established among foodies Open daily from 11am to 11pm (the North end, sponsored by pop back into shape on your way for years, thanks in large part to its With a life-size model of a champagne firm, is a bit spendy) home. Or change color, or grow inspired chef, and list of wines Czech icon The Good Soldier and try a mojito for much less spikes. Vodafone’s presenting culled from the best of family Švejk seated at one of its tables than the same drink costs in the a special animation, projected vineyards in Moravia. It’s a for- and an interior that looks like vicinity of the Thermal. Waiters on the facade of the Aeroport mal, old-world place, with white a Disney-take on an old Czech will happily drape you in a blan- club (Divadelní náměstí 43); linen table settings and padded pub atmosphere, you might ket if you’re there by evening and a new type of 3D projection in parlor chairs. It’s situated in expect an ersatz Bohemian din- Photo: Jan Handrejch feel a chill. Light sandwich and free space known as videomap- a small charmer of a hotel that’s ing experience at U Švejka. But The Promenáda restaurant, upstream from the Thermal. panini menus are also on hand and ping. Dramatic images cover the usually booked months in there’s nothing fake about its they’ll pack it to take away (99 bulding in striking detail, repeat- advance, so reservations and excellent Pilsner beer (although local cuisine including the ubiq- cabbage with their roast duck CZK for KVIFF passholders, 119 ed every night of KVIFF at 30- dressing for dinner are de rigueur. at a hefty 69 CZK per half-liter, uitous pork, cabbage and (289 CZK). Like all Czech eating for civilians). And all literally in minute intervals from 10pm to But the French and continental you probably shouldn’t expect dumplings (159 CZK). You will houses, however, there is not a lot the shadow of one of the city’s 2am. This truly amazing projec- cuisine (350-850 CZK for mains), anything less). As regards food, also get a hefty portion of here for vegetarians or those on prettiest spas. If only this place tion was created by artist collec- preceded by delectable appetizers there’s a pretty authentic range of dumplings and red and white a special diet. were open year-round. (WT) tive, The Macula. (PLC)
DAILIES
Photo: Milan Malíček Photo: Milan Malíček Photo: Milan Malíček Brian Trenchard-Smith (right) at his Master Class. KVIFF prez Jiří Bartoška joins Adrian Grenier’s entourage. “Statuesque” KVIFFers outside the Thermal.