The best Slávka Budínová’s movies

The movie describes proletarian life in the Czech Lands after World War I.

A man returns to his native village in search of renewed faith and his old girlfriend. But she, now a middleaged woman, does not recognise him and he goes home, more disillusioned than ever.

The wrenching story of a woman sentenced in 1934 to ten years in prison for antifascist activities. The love between her and her fiancée enables her to survive the tribulations of her time in prison, where she is one of few political prisoners.

In Vražda v hotelu Excelsior, the interwar period homicide detective squad from Prague investigates the murder of a wealthy woman, Mrs Matoušová, which threatens the reputation of the eponymous luxury hotel popular with Prague’s elite. Even the retired police inspector Mrázek (František Filipovský), who works at the Excelsior as a hotel detective, is unable to help at first. Although the investigation inevitably uncovers the hotel staff’s scheming, Vacátko and his team unerringly follow the trail that leads them to the murderer…

It is the summer of 1968 and also in South Moravian Pálavice appear political clashes. The so far peacefully farming Unified farmers' cooperative starts splitting. Some of the farmers have found the cooperative called Vidrupa and want to deal with wine in private trade. Michal Janák, chairman of the farmers' cooperative is a deliberate man and refuses the latent return to the capitalism. As an excellent farmer he continues preparing planting out new vineyards. His adversaries do not agree - the returns will come many years later. Jozka Hrdlicka, an émigré, notices on the Austrian TV the interview with the representatives of Vidrupa and decides to visit his native village. The new suit and the hired car transform the bankrupt and criminal to the successful businessman with wine.

Honza Pavelka (Jan Hrusínský) wins the junior motorbike speed races. His thirteen-year-old brother Martin (Roman Cada), his assistant and biggest fan, answers the questions of his schoolfriend Pavlína in a superior tone. Student Zuzana (Libuse Safránková), who gave her scarf to Honza to wear around his neck for the races as a talisman is Honza's girlfriend. He met her when he came to her parent's home to repair the TV set. Honza declines an invitation to celebration with his friends. He goes off with Zuzana instead, but she refuses his intimate advances. The offended young man, who is about to serve his two years in the army, tries to blackmail her emotionally and the couple breaks up. Martin tries various schemes to bring them together again.

Shortish forty-year old Ludvík Podzimek, lute and flute player in a Prague orchestra, is far from being an attractive man. He is nevertheless generally considered a great 'Don Juan'. Women take up with him out of a certain motherly compassion and Ludvík's tender heart does not allow him to split with any of them. His lovers thus accumulate and cause him numerous troubles.

The bank officer Bedrich Hroch is sent by the bank director to the zoo, which asked an allocation of one and half kg of gold for a gold tooth for a hippo. During the check up of the hippo's teeth Bedrich is swallowed by the hippo. The man does not die in the hippo's guts and he chats quite happily with his frightened wife Dása. Journalist Pip Karen, his friend is also present to the dialogue and he has immediately an idea how to use this special situation. He tells to the new minister Borovec and his opponent professor Fibinger that there is a hippo in the zoo which can speak. He also tells them how to use this situation for a political propaganda.