Known for Sound
Life is not easy for Laika, a dog on the outskirts of a big Russian city. She is caught and forcibly retrained to become a pioneer in astronautics. Soon after her lift-off into space, a number of animals follow that are hurriedly launched from Houston and Baikonur. The animals travel astray, but finally manage, with the help of a black hole, to colonize a faraway planet. After a short period of harmonious, undisturbed co-existence with indigenous life forms, however, first human cosmonaut run ashore on their planet, and their harmonious life, indeed their very survival, are suddenly in jeopardy.
Fogi is enjoying his never ending puberty. But simultaneously Fogi is also trying to live up to his family duties and bring up Véna, his son from the first marriage. He did not get married again but lives with Jana, a post office employee. Together they have little Anicka and they all live in a flat in a small town. At first, Jana is trying to tolerate Fogi's moods, but her patience is running out. Fogi loses his job. On top of that he starts to see himself in his adolescent son and realizes with horror that Véna repeats his own mistakes. The first fights, bans and mutual misunderstandings are approaching.
The story begins in 1984 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, few years before the end of Communist era. The band Pražský výběr (Prague's selection) has just received the news thier 5-year ban has expired and they are alowed to perform once again. This half fantasy half document about the band would draw the atmosphere of middle european late Communist era and the eufory of it's end.
The director Ivan Balaďa was not allowed to finish this gloomy, black-and-white parable, inspired by Chekhov's short story Pavilion No. 6 - only after the fall of communism, more than twenty years later, did the film hit the cinema screens, unfortunately to negligible acclaim. In fact, it is only now that we can fully enjoy the story of an aging, increasingly exhausted mental institution doctor who is inexorably sinking to the level of his patients.
During the change of functions in the Fortuna medical ceramics company, Bohouš Fisher, an independent clerk, became deputy director of the company against his will. As a result, he is forced to make even greater compromises than before. He takes part in unnecessary meetings for which he has to raise money from company funds because of his position, or he jocularly solves a "work" accident of two employees who were engaged in love games instead of work. It's not much better in his private life. He would like to do some meaningful work, like building a stove.
