Despite pleas from his exasperated wife Emilie (Stella Zázvorková) and son Jara (Ondrej Vetchý), who want him to make some serious decisions about the future, Fanda ignores their nagging and spends his days seeking amusement and adventure. Aided and abetted by his longtime pal and former theatre colleague Eda (Stanislav Zindulka), Fanda keeps his acting skills sharpened by pretending to be a host of fascinating characters. One day he is a retired opera star in the market for an opulent country estate, next a ticket inspector on the Prague subway. Although Fanda bickersconstantly with his wife, their bond is palpable – even if life with Fanda is frustrating, deep down Emilie also knows that at least it is never boring. But when Fanda fakes his own death, terrifying his family, Emilie decides she’s had enough and files for divorce. The couple soon realises, however, that maybe Fanda is right – instead of old age being a time to take on worries, perhaps it is the time to shed them and live each day to the fullest. —thecia.com.au
Vladimír Michálek (born November 2, 1956, Mladá Boleslav) is a Czech film director and screenwriter. Michálek graduated from Czech film Academy FAMU, Prague, in 1992. Starting during his academic study he was filming documentaries. He joined the Barrandov Studios as assistant director, where he worked with Andrew Birkin (Burning Secret), Reinhard Hauff, Ted Kotcheff (The Shooter), Margarethe von Trotta and Bernhard Wicky. He is married and has three children.
1994 was the year of the release of his first feature film, Amerika, a free adaptation of the Kafka novel. In 1996 Forgotten Light followed, a film adaption of the Jakub Deml novel. The film ran on the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, as did this next movie, Sekal Has to Die, two years later. The latter won ten Czech Lion awards, including Best Direction, and succeeded Forgotten Light as the Czech Oscar-nominee. As with America, he wrote the screenplay for his film Angel Exit 2000. The film won the 2002 Daring Digital… read more