The Elementary School

Obecná škola is a Czech 1991 comedy film directed by Jan Svěrák. The screenplay comes from the pen of his father Zdeněk Svěrák. The film was nominated for the Academy Award in 1991 and is considered to belong among the best Czech films ever.

Plot

The film is set shortly after the World War II (1945 and 1946) in one of the suburbs of Prague. The main character Eda Souček (Václav Jakoubek) attends a boys´ elementary school and belongs to a class with some serious discipline problems. After their teacher Maxová (Daniela Kolářová) goes insane during one of the lessons, the schoolmaster (Rudolf Hrušínský nejst.) has to implement a special measures. He employs a new male teacher Igor Hnízdo (Jan Tříska) who is said to be a great war hero. Hnízdo immediately introduces corporal punishment. Despite his strict methods, the boys soon become charmed by the man. Eda sees him as the very opposite of his own father (Zdeněk Svěrák) whom he considers to be too careful and cowardly. Hnízdo makes the same positive impression on all people he meets (including Eda´s mother). Nevertheless, his persona is surrounded by many mysteries. For example his war heroism is disputed as he is unable to provide any accurate information about his military service. However the boys from his class ignore all negative comments. But his good reputation suffers after he is accused of having a sexual relationship with local twins who attend a girls´ school in the same area. He is forced to leave because this is not the first time he is involved in a similar affair. The formerly unmanageable boys begin to defend Hnízdo and call for his return. The accusation is finally withdrawn and Hnízdo returns to the class.

Production

The original story was written by Zdeněk Svěrák. He used his own experiences both as a pupil of a similar school and as a former teacher. This is the first of the films created by the successful father screenwriter - son director partnership. The others include Akumulátor I. (1993),Kolja (1996), Tmavomodrý svět (2000) and Vratné lahve (2007)

Cast

• Václav Jakoubek - Eda Souček
• Radoslav Budác - Tonda
• Jan Tříska - Igor Hnízdo
• Zdeněk Svěrák - František Souček
• Libuše Šafránková - Mrs. Součková
• Rudolf Hrušínský nejst. - schoolmaster
• Rudolf Hrušínský st. - Tonda´s father
• Eva Holubová - Tonda´s mother
• Petr Čepek - Josef Mrazek (aka fakir Rádži Tamil)
• Boleslav Polívka - Plíha
• Ondřej Vetchý - tram driver
• Irena Pavlásková - tram driver´s wife
• Daniela Kolářová - teacher Maxová

Personnel

• Jan Svěrák - director
• Zdeněk Svěrák - story, screenplay
• Jiří Svoboda - music
• Frantiček A. Brabec - director of photography
• Jiří Kříž - sound

External links

• Obecná skola at IMDb
• Movie details (in Czech)