Cinenaut

Biography

Jiří Menzel (Czech: [ˈjɪr̝iː ˈmɛntsl̩] was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films are adapted from works by Czech writers such as Bohumil Hrabal and Vladislav Vančura.

Menzel, a member of the Czech New Wave, became internationally famous in 1967, when his first feature film, Closely Watched Trains, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His controversial film Larks on a String was filmed in 1969, but was initially banned by the Czechoslovakian government. It was finally released in 1990 after the fall of the Communist regime. The film won the Golden Bear at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.

Menzel was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film again in 1986 with his dark comedy My Sweet Little Village. In 1987, he was a member of the jury at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1989 he was a member of the jury at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1995 he was a member of the jury at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival. He would be conferred with IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2013.

Acting (59 movies)

7.2

Closely Watched Trains

1966

6.8

Larks on a String

1990

5.0

Operation Dunaj

2009

-

Sechse kommen durch die Welt

1972

-

Pocta V+W

2005

6.4

Capricious Summer

1968

5.3

Ferat Vampire

1982

7.8

The Cremator

1969

-

The Apple Game

1978

6.2

Those Wonderful Movie Cranks

1979

-

Ceiling

1962

5.6

The Return of the Prodigal Son

1967

-

A Place in the Crowd

1964

-

Minden szerdán

1979

-

Searching

1966

5.9

Pearls of the Deep

1966

-

Volejte Martina

1966

7.3

If a Thousand Clarinets

1965

-

Martin Speaking

1966

-

Windstorm

1967

-

The Gentle Barbarian

1990

-

Too Loud A Solitude

1995

-

Albert

1985

-

Hearty Greetings from the Globe

1983

-

Straw Hat

1972

-

Joint Venture

1995

-

Bohumil Hrabal „Takže se stalo, že...“

2014

-

Daddy

2004

-

Fandy ó Fandy

1983

-

Signál

2012

-

Passing Fancy

1983

-

Koportos

1979

-

Heart Tremors

1981

-

More Than Words

2018

-

Dita Saxová

1968

-

The Wolf from Royal Vineyard Street

2016

-

Everything I Like

1993

-

Nobody Will Laugh

1966

7.2

All My Loved Ones

1999

5.9

Courage for Every Day

1965

-

Teddy Bear

2007

-

To Make a Comedy Is No Fun

2016

-

Hotel for Strangers

1967

-

The Little Apocalypse

1993

-

The Sunken Cemetery

2002

-

How to Deserve a Princess

1995

5.5

The Interpreter

2018

-

Crime in the Night Club

1968

-

Zimní víla

2006

-

30 Maidens and Pythagoras

1977

7.3

Daisies

1966

-

Blue Planet

1980

-

Bulldogs and Cherries

1981

-

Defendant

1964

-

CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel

2018

7.2

The Elementary School

1991

-

Franciska vasárnapjai

1996

-

Als Großvater Rita Hayworth liebte

2001

-

Strange Creatures

1990

Directing (26 movies)

Title	Year	Job
Prefabricated Houses	1960	Screenplay
Our Mr. Foerster Died	1963	Screenplay
Pearls of the Deep	1966	Screenplay
Crime at the Girls School	1966	Screenplay
Closely Watched Trains	1966	Screenplay
Capricious Summer	1968	Screenplay
Crime in the Night Club	1968	Screenplay
Who Looks for Gold?	1974	Screenplay
Those Wonderful Movie Cranks	1979	Screenplay
Cutting It Short	1981	Screenplay
The Snowdrop Festival	1984	Screenplay
Larks on a String	1990	Screenplay
The End of Old Times	1990	Screenplay
The Beggar's Opera	1991	Screenplay
Ten Minutes Older: The Cello	2002	Screenplay
I Served the King of England	2007	Screenplay
The Don Juans	2013	Writer