sippog

I notice only two films in colour - definitely a grey view of our world.

It would be interesting to add a few films that connected with Czech cinema. Perhaps THE KNACK (Richard Lester) for it's slightly surreal sense of humour and IT HAPPENED HERE (Kevin Brownlow) for a different perspective on WW2. Dare I say WOMEN IN LOVE (Ken Russell) for signposting 60's hedonism; a touch of our own Prague Spring.

Jiri Menzel, when he was over here, compared the Czechs to the Irish in their sense of humour so an Irish film or two as well . . .

Having said all that, I haven't seen a film as good as I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND in the UK for a long time. We should be studying the Czechs and trying to pick up a few tips

Mico

Of three genres,classic,horror and comedy think I would choose.Great Expectations the David Lean one,The Haunting-Robert Wise and Passport to Pimlico or The Happiest Days of Your Life.

Angerr

Thank you for all the replies. I'm taking a note of every film you suggested and I have a great deal of films to find information about and look for now, as I don't know many of them.

Since I started this topic, some more films and filmmakers occured to me that would maybe have to be included:

How about a Ken Loach film? From my perspective, he is one of the most important British directors.

How about a "Carry on..." film? How important are these? I must admit I only got to know about them thanks to Total Film's 2004 list of Top 50 British films (which includes many of the films you allready suggested) and I think they are practically unknown in our country, so I really don't know about them.

How about a Norman Wisdom comedy?

And how about a couple of "contemporary" films? You know, not a classic that has already proven it can stand the test of time. You already mentioned some Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare adaptations. Which other film(s) from, say, 1990 onwards would you select? (recently I liked Hallam Foe very much, which unfortunately didn't get a broader distribution in other countries I think, not in ours at least).

I've never heard of It Happened Here, I think it was never released or shown on TV in our country. How is it connected with Czechoslovakia?

The Haunting is US film (I think), so that doesn't count.

Frantisek Kotas

Angerr

It's nice you say that, it seems you liked the film more than most of our own film critics:)
One Czech film I would wholeheartedly recommend to you is "Riders in the Sky" from 1968. It is about Czech pilots serving with RAF in WW2. Though it was, probably due to political or financial reasons, shot in Czechoslovakia and there was a shortage of planes, it has very good scenes of air fighting and touching story as well. This is I think one of the few films we can be really proud of. Unfortunately, it would be pretty tough to get hold of it outside Czech Republic.
Something by Jan Svankmajer won't dissapoint, either from his older, short films or some of his more recent features (Little Otik or Lunacy for instance). These are bizarre (surrealist) films, but very witty.
And there is on film which is in production now and should open in our country in september. It's called Tobruk and takes place during the siege of the Libyan city of Tobruk in 1941, where some Czechoslovakian soldiers fought alongside the British, Australian, Polish and South African men. I'm quite suspicious how it turns out, but looking forward to it very much. You can see some pictures of the film here: CSFD.cz - Tobruk (2008) - Režie: Marhoul Václav - Hrají: Meduna Jan, Vanìk Petr, Nebøenský Robert

Frantisek Kotas

Gazza

Maybe a Carry On or Ealing comedy should be included?

I'd also like to see a more recent film on the list to show that we don't just live in the past.

Possibilities could be, among others:
- Lock, Stock
- Dead Man's Shoes
- Vera Drake