The best Karel Zima’s movies

Czechoslovakia, 1941. As the war continues, Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich arrives in Nazi-occupied Prague and establishes a regime of terror that will force freedom fighters to act. But the price to pay will be too high…

Life is not easy for Laika, a dog on the outskirts of a big Russian city. She is caught and forcibly retrained to become a pioneer in astronautics. Soon after her lift-off into space, a number of animals follow that are hurriedly launched from Houston and Baikonur. The animals travel astray, but finally manage, with the help of a black hole, to colonize a faraway planet. After a short period of harmonious, undisturbed co-existence with indigenous life forms, however, first human cosmonaut run ashore on their planet, and their harmonious life, indeed their very survival, are suddenly in jeopardy.

A Little Piece of Heaven tells a story of love, friendship, and solidarity, aspects of life that allows us to live with dignity even at the most difficult of times. Set within the walls of a Communist prison of the 1950s, a tale unfolds of a young couples' fragile love. An angry young man Lubos always felt defiance toward everything around him, and eventually this trait lands him in court. The verdict is clear and the punishment long and hard. But even in prison Lubos is unable to tame his love of jazz or the eternally blazing flame of rebellion he carries inside. There is no place on earth where love cannot grow. Lubos meets Dana in prison. Out of solidarity and support, their fellow prisoners hatch a small rebellion to help them fulfill their love - a love which has appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This romantic comedy, shot in a road-movie style, tells the story of businessman Petr Kraus and his personal transformation. After returning from China, where he supervised the production of clothing for his customers, Petr finds out that the manufacturer had ruined the whole order and so he gets into trouble with the contractor who wants some astronomical compensation for the damage. Peter knows that he should solve the problem quickly, but instead he decides to go on a trip seeking his personal happiness and an escape from responsibility. Fortunately, his close friends, Tereza and Pavel are there to help...

The film's main theme is obsession. An obsession with love, with art, originality, copying, with success, money and... with oneself. Sooner or later, if we lose our rational upper hand over it and let ourselves be dragged down by it, every obsession leads to destruction. But it is only when being dragged down, in spite of all the cuts and bruises, that we find a unique DELIGHT, if only for a few short moments - and what else is life really about? It is like a drug. What at first seems to be weak and trivial is capable of expanding and growing into a serious problem that can appear to be absolutely incomprehensible and absurd to those who have never experienced anything like it.

NON PLUS ULTRAS is a comedy with a social subtext. It takes a satirical look at a short stretch in the life of five "fans" of one Prague football club who belong to the hardcore supporters - ultras or hooligans. The gang members' lives revolve around football. They revere their "world-famous" English counterparts and uncritically take them as their role models. The undeclared leader of the gang is Bejcak (played by David Novotny), a charismatic young man of around 30 years old with natural authority. He is not stupid; he likes to use foreign words, but always in a slightly unsuitable context. The oldest member of the gang is the lonely forty-year-old Tycka (Vladimir Dlouhy), whom Bejcak took under the gang's wing. Tycka is much older than the others. The stuttering youth Pejsek (Karel Zima) is a fanatic lover of all things "English". He is seconded by the none-too-bright Potapec (Michal Novotny) and the agile, wiry Vocko (Matej Hadek), who is constantly devising new loutish exploits.

When on the mountains, so to Špindl. In the snowy Špindlerův Mlýn the sisters Eliška, Katka and Magda go to the women's ride in the full-length winter comedy Špindl. They plan to enjoy relaxation, fun and perhaps a bit of love adventure. Eliška is fine, but Katka and Magda were already thirty and are still single. Does the right one appear in winter snow? It is certain that they will meet other participants and entertaining figures, and during the weekly stay, all of them will get an avalanche of love and livelihoods.

For fifteen years now, the happily married Zuzana one day finds out that her husband Jiří has been having an affair with another woman for a long time. Zuzana does not hesitate and decides to visit her daughter-in-law Lenka and make her a bit unconventional proposal. Her plan is scandalous. She suggests that she share the care of Jirka and turn him into a man for a change. Lenka finally agrees and both women introduce this new way of life to Jirka. So he puts him in front of the finished thing. What seems like a perfect plan to everyone at first, that is, one week with his wife, the other with his mistress, may turn out to be a nightmare for everyone.

A group of teenagers are trying to solve a mystery of a puzzle created and left to them by the dead boy.