Zavis, the Prince of Pornofolk under the Influence of Griffith's Intolerance and Tati's Monsieur Hul (2006)

Run Time - 147 min.  |   Countries - Czechia  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Nathan Southern

As a self-declared follow-up to his earth-shaking 'Little Capitalist Tetralogy' of documentary films (New Hyperion [1992], What is to Be Done? [1996], Bohemia Docta [2000], Who Will Watch the Watchman? [2003]), Czech filmmaker Karel Vachek helms the sociopolitical expose Zavis, the Prince of Pornofolk under the Influence of Griffith's Intolerance and Tati's Monsieur Hulot or The Foundation and Doom of Czechoslovakia (1918 - 1992) (2006). A satirical portrait of contemporary Czech society with grimly serious undertones, the film throws at the audience such absurdities as an Austerlitz reenactment, a visit to a pet cemetery, a tomato ketchup battle and a garish motorcycle show. Vachek refers to all of these happenings, with tremendous disdain, as "pseudo-events," and reveals the connecting thematic thread: that of the extreme commercialization and privatization befalling contemporary Czech society in the post-1989 years. The documentarian also raises significant related questions about the capacity for self-acceptance and individual responsibility in a hyper-consumerist world. Songs by the folk singer Milan Smrcka (AKA Zavi) pepper the soundtrack.