Jiří Menzel

Butch among students of Otakar Vávra, who finally, despite his initial shyness, proved to be much better than others. Before acquiring the post of film director, he played in movies made by his colleagues, getting on a peculiar actor type. Already for his first feature film Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky, 1966) he won the American Film Academy Award, later nominated was also his comedy My Sweet Little Village (Vesničko má středisková, 1985). Gradually he became a specialist for adaptations of Bohumil Hrabal’s prose, and it happened that just one of them, Larks on a String (Skřivánci na niti, 1969), earned him work prohibition during the period of normalization. In his view of the world he is critical, but he harmonises indulgently, and perhaps that is why he is such a favorite with the audience. Until today abundant is his work in the theater, as a film director and actor.