Worldstar on AllMovie

For many artists international recognition is a symbol of success, but for ageing Czech photographer Miroslav Tichý the prospect of fame so late in life is little more than a nuisance. As a young man living in Czechoslovakia, Tichý was oppressed and imprisoned by the communist regime, and ostracized by his neighbors. It was during this unusually stressful period in his life that Tichý crafted a unique camera out of such household items as an old toilet paper roll and a magnifying glass, and began obsessively photographing women. Some time later, after the prints had begun to rot, an old friend caught the attention of the international art scene by putting the faded, ghostly prints up for sale. But at this point in his life, the eighty-something artist was just content to relax in his ramshackle home - making the intrusion of museum curators and more of a nuisance than anything else. While the attention lavished on him does occasionally seem to strike his fancy, the cantankerous Tichý is a prime example of an outsider artist who refuses to let fame justify his existence.