Menzel, Jiri

The son of writer and journalist Joseph Menzel. He was fond of theater and entered the Academy of Musical Art in Prague at the theater faculty, but was not accepted “for the lack of necessary data”. After that he entered the faculty of film and television of the same academy, where he studied in the workshop of Otakar Vavra, together with Vera Khitilova and other future directors of the new wave.

He made his debut in 1960 with the short film “Panel Houses” , filmed in the 3rd year of the Academy . From the first works, the director was distinguished by attention to everyday life in all its unembellishment and illogism .

He gained world fame in the film Trains under Special Observation ( 1966 , based on the novel by B. Grabal , Oscar for the best foreign film, the main prize at the Mannheim International Film Festival - Heidelberg , award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts ).

In the era of normalization, many of Menzel’s films (for example, Larks on a String ) were banned from showing and appeared on screens only in the 1990s .

He acted as an actor, including in the films of his colleagues on the new wave, starred in Marta Mesaros and Krzysztof Zanussi . He worked actively in the theater.

• 1960 - Panel houses / Domy z panelu
• 1961 - FAMU Magazine - First Periodical Issue / Zurnal FAMU - Prvni obcasnik
• 1962 - Umrel nam pan Foerster died with us
• 1965 - Concert 65 / Koncert 65
• 1965 - Pearls at the bottom / Perlicky na dne
• 1965 - Crime at the girls' school / Zlocin v divci skole
• 1966 - Trains under special supervision / Ostře sledované vlaky (based on the novel by B. Grabal , Oscar for best foreign film, main prize at the IFF in Mannheim-Heidelberg , BAFTA award ).
• 1968 - Capricious Summer / Rozmarné léto (based on the novel by Vladislav Vanchura , Crystal Globe IFF in Karlovy Vary )
• 1968 - Crime in cafesantan (according to the novel by J. Shkvoretsky )
• 1969 - Larks on a thread / Skřivánci na niti (according to the stories of B. Grabal , was released in 1990 , The Golden Bear and the honorary mention of FIPRESCI Berlin IFF )
• 1974 - Promeny Krajiny
• 1974 - Who Looks for the Golden Bottom / Kdo hleda zlate dno
• 1976 - On a farm near the forest / Na samote u lesa
• 1978 - Gorgeous Men with a Movie Camera / Bajecni muzi s klikou
• 1981 - Cuttings (Memories) / Postriziny
• 1982 - Beautiful Moments of Sorrow / Krasosmutnen
• 1983 - Snowdrop Festival / Slavnosti snezenek
• 1985 - My Central Village / Vesnicko ma strediskova ( Oscar nomination , Ecumenical Jury Prize and Special Prize of the Montreal IFF Jury)
• 1986 - Chocolate Pharaohs / Die Schokoladenschnuffler
• 1989 - The End of the Old Times / Konec starych casu (based on the novel by V. Vanchura , award to the best film director at the Montreal IFF )
• 1990 - Audience
• 1991 - Beggar Opera / Zebracka opera
• 1994 - The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Soldier Ivan Chonkin / Život a neobyčejná dobrodružství vojáka Ivana Čonkina , based on the novel of the same name by V. Voinovich , Gold Medal of the President of the Italian Senate at the Venice IFF )
• 2002 - Ten Minutes Older: Cello / Ten Minutes Older: The Cello , episode One Moment
• 2006 - I served the English king / Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (based on the novel of the same name by B. Grabal, FIPRESCI Berlin IFF)
• 2013 - Don Juan / Donsajni

Actor

• The Vampire by Ferat ( 1981 )
• Heartfelt greetings from the globe / Srdecny pozdrav ze zemekoule ( 1982 )

• Akira Kurosawa Prize for the collection of creativity at the San Francisco Film Festival ( 1990 ).
• Czech lion for his contribution to domestic cinema ( 1996 ).

• Škvorecký J. Jiří Menzel and the history of the “Closely watched trains” . Boulder: East European Monographs, 1982
• Pošová K. Jiří Menzel. Praha: Český filmový ústav, 1992

• Jiri Menzel at the Internet Movie Database
• Jiri Menzel at the Cinema Center website
• Interview with Jiri Menzel at Cinematheque