A Hoof Here, A Hoof There

Kopytem sem, kopytem tam

In 1988, Věra Chytilová delivered a striking tragicomedy that left its mark on the 30-something generation of that period. The protagonists of this caustic group portrait are pals who enjoy a tipple, all kinds of hi-jinks, and no-strings sexual adventures. Auditor Pepe, vet Dědek and restaurant manager František are financially secure and enjoy life with their similarly fun-loving girlfriends – at least until the moment when Pepe collapses and ends up in hospital. The film unerringly skewers not just the moral decrepitude of the late 1980s, but also the incompatible relationships between men and women, members of a new, showily non-conformist generation beset by boredom, alienation, amorality and spiritual emptiness.

 

The film is not available online

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Věra Chytilová
Script: Věra Chytilová, Pavel Škapík
Cinematography: Jaroslav Brabec
Editing: Ivana Kačírková
Sound: Miloslav Hůrka
Music: Jiří Chlumecký, Jiří Veselý
Actors: Tomáš Hanák, Milan Šteindler, David Vávra, Ivana Kuntová, Tereza Kučerová, Renata Becerrová
Production: Filmové Studio Barrandov
Sets: Zbyněk Hloch
Format: 35mm
Color: Color
Production Country: Czechoslovakia
Production Year: 1988
Duration: 129'
Contact: Czech National Film Archive

Věra Chytilová

Věra Chytilová (1929-2014), one of the brightest of the new wave of directors who emerged in Czechoslovakia in the mid-60s, is considered to be among the most significant creative figures in Czech cinematography. She studied philosophy and architecture, then worked as a technical draftsman, a designer, a fashion model, a photo re-toucher, and as a clapper girl for Barrandov Film Studios in Prague. There she continued as a writer, actress, and assistant director. She was denied a scholarship from Barrandov to study film production, but in 1957 she took the admissions tests at FAMU and was accepted. While there, she directed several shorts and completed her graduation effort, The Ceiling (1961). Her acclaimed 1966 farce Daisies dealt with hedonism among young people of Prague and was banned by the Czech government. Unlike several of her contemporaries, Chytilová did not move to the West after the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968. Her feature films combine the elements of cinema vérité and formalism, often spiked with elements of anarchic, surreal humor. In the majority of her films, she addresses the fate of women and their experiences in modern times. Praised as “Czech New Wave’s most rebellious, irreverent and boundary-breaking talent”, she left a legacy of films acclaimed for visual experimentation and for bold unmasking of the moral problems of contemporary society.

Filmography

1961 The Ceiling | Strop (short)
1962 A Bagful of Fleas | Pytel blech (short)
1963 Something Different | O něčem jiném
1966 Daisies | Sedmikrásky
1970 Fruit of Paradise | Ovoce stromů rajských jíme
1976 The Apple Game | Hra o jablko
1979 Prefab Story | Panelstory aneb Jak se rodí sídliste
1980 Calamity | Kalamita
1983 The Very Late Afternoon of the Faun | Faunovo velmi pozdní odpoledne
1984 Prague: The Restless Heart of Europe | Praha - neklidné srdce Evropy (doc)
1986 Wolf's Hole | Vlčí bouda
1987 The Jester and the Queen | Šašek a královna
1988 Tainted Horseplay | Kopytem sem, kopytem tam
1991 My Citizens of Prague Understand Me | Mí Prazané mi rozumeji
1992 The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday | Dědictví aneb Kurvahošigutntag
1998 Traps | Pasti, pasti, pasticky
2001 Ban from Paradise | Vyhnání z ráje
2005 In Search of Ester | Patrani po Ester (doc)
2006 Pleasant Moments | Hezké chvilky bez záruky