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Welcome to our foreign films page, featuring foreign movies in video and DVD format in languages from a host of countries. Note: unless stated otherwise, all videocassettes are in VHS and NTSC format, and all DVDs are for players that support Region 1 encoding (United States and Canada) and are in NTSC format. Check our DVD Compatibility FAQ for more information about region encoding, television formats, and other specifications. If you can't find what you need, please email us.
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Kolya Jan Sverak A charmer of a movie, due, in no small part, to the wonderful performances of Zdenek Sverak as the confirmed, set-in-his-ways bachelor and Andrej Chalimon as the six-year-old Russian boy stranded in Prague by his mother, who first turns Sverak's life upside down and ultimately wins over his heart. An Oscar and Golden Globe-winner for Best Foreign Film, this "gem of a film" (New York Times) also features political overtones in its whimsical look at a musician reduced to playing at funerals because of his outspokenness and the fact that his brother has emigrated. Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1996, 105 mins. DVD | $37.95
Czech New Wave Set: Daisies/The Joke Vera Chytilova/Jaromil Jires Two key films from the Czech New Wave. In Daisies (Vera Chytilova, 1966, 74 mins.), two uninhibited young women (both named Marie) turn against the numbing state of society in a madcap flurry of pranks and material destruction. Beneath the outrageous surface of this avant-garde comedy is a defiant feminist statement and an acknowledgement of the desperation that goes hand-in-hand with rebellion - a state of mind represented by one girl's attempted suicide. The film so unsettled Czech government officials that its release was held up for a year. The Joke (Jaromil Jires, 1968, 80 mins.), based on a novel by Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being) is dark and ironic film shot during the Prague Spring of 1968. After ending a postcard with a humorous reference to Trotsky, a young man is sentenced to years of hard labor for his joke. Upon his release, he sets out to take revenge by seducing the wife of the Communist Party official who turned him in. The film and book were subsequently banned in Czechoslovakia. This is a two-DVD set, and includes a Vera Chytilova filmography and biographical sketch; documents related to the banning of Daisies; a Jaromil Jires filmography; and biographical sketches of Jires and Milan Kundera. Both films in Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1966/1968, 154 mins. DVD | $69.95
Adelheid Frantisek Vlacil Set in the aftermath of World War II, this powerful drama concerns a former Czech soldier who inherits a manor once owned by a German family. He falls in love with Adelheid, the daughter of the previous owner, who has been reduced to servant status. An important work from director Frantisek Vlacil, whose Marketa Lazarova (1967) was selected as the greatest Czech film in a poll of the country's top film professionals. "...a profound analysis of the human distortions caused by ideology" (Peter Hames, Central Europe Review). In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1969, 99 mins. DVD | $44.95
Adrift Jan Kadar Jan Kadar's last Czech feature is a brilliant and beautiful film about sexual repression. In the lowlands of the Danube a fisherman rescues a mysterious drowning girl (played by American model Paula Pritchett). The intensity of his feelings conflict with the order of his life as a husband and a father until his passion leads to a tragic climax. Script by Imre Gyongyossy. Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia/USA 1969 108 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
All My Loved Ones Matej Minac A Jewish family living in pre-WWII Prague sees their idyllic life irreversibly change as the Nazis take over. The blind faith of the headstrong family leader (Josef Abrham), who refuses to believe that his former friends and colleagues would turn on them because of their religion, leads them closer to their tragic fate. Director Matej Minac also focuses on the actions of British stockbrocker Nicholas Winton (Rupert Graves), whose humanitarian efforts saved several hundred Czech children from Nazi persecution. In Czech with English subtitles. Slovakia/Czech Republic, 2000, 92 mins. DVD | $44.95
And Give My Love to the Swallows Jaromil Jires Acclaimed Czech New Wave filmmaker Jaromil Jires (The Joke, Valerie & Her Week of Wonders) directs the true story of Maruska Kuderikova, a young Moravian girl who joined the Czech Resistance during World War II and was arrested by the Nazis for her work. Kuderikova chronicled her experience as a prisoner in her diary, and Jires transforms her story into an uplifting tale of sacrifice for the sake of a better life and future. "A powerful and moving work" (International Film Guide). In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1972, 87 mins. DVD | $44.95
The Angel Levine Jan Kadar Jan Kadar's first American film was this touching adaptation of a story by Bernard Malamud. Zero Mostel plays an aging Jewish tailor who does not seem to have luck on his side. When his wife becomes sick and his business is lost in a fire, he begins to lose all hope. Enter the title character, an angel played by Harry Belafonte, who needs to save this troubled man in order to regain his place in Heaven. A parable of faith and racial harmony. The supporting cast includes Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson and Ida Kaminska. USA, 1970, 105 mins. DVD | $37.95
Autumn Spring Vladimir Michalek The late, great Vlastimil Brodsky (Larks on a String) made his final screen appearance in this bittersweet comedy about one man's rejection of old age. Brodsky plays an elderly con man who refuses to grow up and act responsibly, instead spending his days playing innocent pranks. As his shenanigans increase, his family finds him increasingly harder to live with. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 2001, 95 mins. DVD | $44.95
Capricious Summer Jiri Menzel Three middle-aged friends in a sleepy, second-class resort town are thrown into a state of sexual longing and frustration when a tightrope walker arrives with his beautiful young assistant. Director Jiri Menzel (Closely Watched Trains) also plays the tightrope walker in this gentle, wistful comedy. "Menzel's evocation of place and mood, of soft summer days threatened by winter, of regret for lost youth and opportunity, of hope for things to come, is perfection" (Tom Milne, Time Out). Capricious Summer won the top prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1967, 74 mins. DVD | $44.95
Cassandra Cat (When the Cat Comes) Vojtech Jasny A small town is disrupted by a magical cat from a traveling circus who dons special spectacles and transforms people into colors which reveal their true natures. This enchanting fairy tale and moving satire on hypocrisy and folly is a delight for people of all ages. With Jan Werich. English dialog. Czechoslovakia, 1963, 87 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
Citizen Vaclav Havel Goes on Vacation Jan Novak/Adam Novak Before he became president of the Czech Republic following the Velvet Revolution, Vaclav Havel - playwright, essayist, intellectual - was a leading dissident, repeatedly jailed by the communist government. This extraordinary documentary by Jan and Adam Novak recreates (with irony) a little-known episode in Havel's rebellious life: the decision to test the limits of the secret police by taking an extended "vacation" to visit his friends across Czechoslovakia. The result is a riveting, often humorous journey into the soul of a brave individual who faces totalitarianism with an open heart. In English. USA, 2006, 77 mins. $44.95
Closely Watched Trains Jiri Menzel An ironic, funny film about a young man on his first job in a small town railroad station, trying to get sexually initiated (in hilarious scenes), who, unwittingly, becomes a tragic hero. Offbeat but tender, Closely Watched Trains is a comedy about frustration, eroticism and adventure. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Picture. With Vaclav Neckar and Jitka Bendova. In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1966, 93 mins. DVD | $44.95
Code Name Ruby Jan Nemec A remarkable experiment in non-narrative form from Czech New Wave member Jan Nemec, this controversial feature blends documentary, archival footage and fiction into an elliptical narrative in which two young people in Prague, an ancient seat for the practice of alchemy, follow the trail for a mystical philosopher's stone. History and future blend as Nemec, through brilliant montage sequences and fanciful leaps of the imagination, posits crucial questions about the legacy of the past and how it influences the individual's personal freedom and responsibility. With a script by Nemec and Iva Russelakova. With Jan Potmesil and Lucie Rejchrtova. Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1997, 80 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
The Coward Jiri Weiss Set in a remote Slovak village during the waning days of World War II, The Coward is a probing moral study of heroism. A school teacher and his young wife find a wounded Russian parachutist in their front yard just as the Germans occupy the village; the wife supports the anti-Nazi partisans but her husband collaborates with the Germans. At the end of his humiliation, her husband finds the courage to save his honor and the innocent victims of the Nazis. Slovak with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1962, 113 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
Daisies Vera Chytilova In this key film from the Czech New Wave, two uninhibited young women (both named Marie) turn against the numbing state of society in a madcap flurry of pranks and material destruction. Beneath the outrageous surface of this avant-garde comedy is a defiant feminist statement and an acknowledgement of the desperation that goes hand-in-hand with rebellion - a state of mind represented by one girl's attempted suicide. The film so unsettled Czech government officials (and a great many other men) that its release was held up for a year. "...the most adventurous and anarchic Czech movie of the 1960s" (The Faber Companion to Foreign Films). In Czech with English subtitles. The DVD includes Vera Chytilova filmography and biographical sketch, documents related to the banning of Daisies. Czechoslovakia, 1966, 74 mins. DVD | $44.95
Distant Journey Alfred Radok Banned for decades, this rediscovered classic of Holocaust Cinema was shot only three years after the war ended, making it one of the first films to deal with the Holocaust. The film follows the struggles of Dr. Hannah Kaufman and her family from the time of the Nazi Occupation of Prague to her experiences in the transit camp of Theresienstadt (modern Terezin). Director Alfred Radok skillfully weaves together documentary-style footage with expressionist dramatic sequences to convey both the reality of history and the nightmare of its impact. "Portrays [its subject] more realistically than any film I have seen, including Schindler's List" (Films in Review). In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1949, 98 mins. DVD | $44.95
Divided We Fall Jan Hrebejk In German-occupied Czechoslovakia, a young couple provides shelter to a Jewish neighbor, taking extreme and sometimes comical measures to protect him and themselves. Petr Jarchovsky, with director Jan Hrebejk, adapted his own novel for this Oscar-nominated feature that won the Czech Film and Television Awards for Best Film, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay. "Mr. Hrebejk and Mr. Jarchovsky, working in the rich Czech tradition of absurdist humanism, construct a universe booby-trapped with impossible choices and ethical puzzles" (A.O. Scott, New York Times). Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 2000, 122 mins. DVD | $44.95
Ecstasy Gustav Machaty This historic film originally suffered from the notoriety of its nude scene with Hedy Lamarr, the very thing has kept it in the public eye up to today. The Pope denounced it, Hitler banned it, American distributors censored it and Hedy's millionaire German munitions maker husband tried to buy up all the prints and destroy them. But there's much more to this film than that puritanical reception suggests. Hedy plays a young bride with an impotent husband who has an affair but refuses to go away with her lover when the husband commits suicide. Notable for its use of location sound and its very stylish, lyrical eroticism and images that beg psychoanalytic interpretation. In German with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1932, 89 mins. DVD | $44.95
End of August at the Hotel Ozone Jan Schmidt A beautifully filmed, yet very bleak, post-apocalyptic vision of the future, which finds a group of women reverting to primitive barbarity in order to survive. From Czech New Wave director Jan Schmidt. "A Mad Max directed by Andrei Tarkovsky" (American Cinematheque). In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1967, 87 mins. DVD | $44.95
The Fifth Horseman is Fear Zbynek Brynych A Jewish physician in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia works in a warehouse after the Nazi ban all Jews from holding professional positions. When he helps an injured political fugitive, he is plunged into a moral and ethical conflict. Within an historical context, director Zynek Brynych creates a thinly disguised allegory about communist Czechoslovakia that is rich in atmosphere and dark in tone. "...a nearly perfect film" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1964, 100 mins. DVD | $44.95
Fruit of Paradise Vera Chytilova Vera Chytilova, a key member of the Czech New Wave, directs a surrealistic fable based on the Adam and Eve story. A modern couple vacationing at a spa eat forbidden fruit, sending the wife on an obsessive search for a dangerous killer. Chytilova's film is a highly stylized, allegorical tale that's "wild, extravagant and ravishing... intoxicating on a sensual level" (Chicago Reader). In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1970, 95 mins. DVD | $44.95
The Good Soldier Schweik 1 & 2 Combo Pack Karel Stekly This combo pack bundles together the 1956 Czech satire The Good Soldier Schweik and its 1957 sequel, The Good Soldier Schweik 2: Beg to Report, Sir. Both works are based on the legendary novel by Czech humorist Jaroslav Hasek, and stand alongside Catch 22 and M*A*S*H as riotous satires on the absurdity of war. Includes still gallery for each film, video scrapbook of original P.R. (press books, newspaper ads) for each film, booklet discussing the meaning and popularity of the Schweik character, bonus "coloring book" featuring illustrations from Jaroslav Hasek's novel upon which the films are based, and optional subtitles. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1956,, 1957 220 mins. DVD | $69.95
The Good Soldier Schweik (Osudy dobreho vojaka Svejka) Karel Stekly Based on the legendary novel by Czech humorist Jaroslav Hasek, The Good Soldier Schweik mixes slapstick and satire to stand alongside Catch 22 and M*A*S*H as a riotous commentary on the absurdity of war. Acclaimed Czech actor Rudolf Hrusinsky stars as the cheerful Schweik, a good-natured buffoon with a story for every occasion. After getting drafted into the Czech army during WWI, Schweik becomes an assistant to high-ranking military officials, and unwittingly wreaks havoc on the leaders of the 91st infantry. Includes still gallery, video scrapbook of original P.R. (press books, newspaper ads), booklet discussing the meaning and popularity of the Schweik character, bonus "coloring book" featuring illustrations from Jaroslav Hasek's novel upon which the films are based, optional subtitles, and more. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1957. DVD | $44.95
The Good Soldier Schweik 2: Beg to Report, Sir (Poslusne hlasim) Karel Stekly The popular sequel to Karel Stekly's definitive screen adaptation of Jaroslav Hasek's acclaimed novel stars Rudolf Hrusinsky as the cheerful soldier Schweik, blissfully ignorant of the sweeping changes taking place all around him. Akin to Huck Finn or Forrest Gump in the United States, the Schweik character has become a well-known cultural icon in Europe on the strength of this film and it's predecessor, The Good Soldier Schweik. Includes still gallery, video scrapbook of original P.R. (press books, newspaper ads), booklet discussing the meaning and popularity of the Schweik character, bonus "coloring book" featuring illustrations from Jaroslav Hasek's novel upon which the films are based, optional subtitles, and more. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1957. DVD | $44.95
The Hard Life of an Adventurer Martin Fric Karel Stekly (later to become the first Czech to win the Venice Film Festival with The Strike) collaborated on the screenplay of this funny send-up of the world of pulp detective stories. A popular mystery writer meets a thief who is a character out of one of his novels. With Otomar Korbelar and Adina Mandlova. Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia 1941 89 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
The Joke Jaromil Jires Based on a novel by Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being) and co-scripted by the author, this dark and ironic film was shot during the Prague Spring of 1968. After ending a postcard with a humorous reference to Trotsky, a young man is sentenced to years of hard labor for his joke. Upon his release, he sets out to take revenge by seducing the wife of the Communist Party official who turned him in. The film and book were subsequently banned in Czechoslovakia. Author and critic Amos Vogel called this film "possibly the most shattering indictment of totalitarianism to come out of a Communist country...a chilling examination of a corrupt society." In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1968, 80 mins. DVD | $44.95
King of Thieves Ivan Fila The winner of 4 Lion Awards in its native Czech Republic, this exquisite coming-of-age story follows the plight of two siblings who are sold to an entertainer who promises lucrative returns in the circus. Instead, sister Mimma is sold into prostitution and brother Barbu is turned over to a gang of thieves. But when Barbu learns of his sister's fate, he escapes and vows to rescue her. From the director of Lea. In German and Russian with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 2004, 101 mins. DVD | $44.95
The Last Butterfly Karel Kachyna Tom Courtenay stars in this beautiful film about an actor forced, by a cruel hoax, to perform for the Nazis. Terezin is a model city that should prove to the world how well the Nazis treat imprisoned Jews. When the curtain goes up, however, there is a surprise that no one expected. In English. Great Britain/Czech Republic, 1994, 106 mins. DVD | $37.95
Late Night Talks with Mother Jan Nemec More cinematic confession than documentary, this captivating, innovative film diary finds Czech New Wave director Jan Nemec attempting to unravel the threads of a difficult relationship with his deceased mother. In an imaginary dialogue with her, Nemec effectively interweaves episodes from his personal life with major events of the 20th century. Inspired by Kafka's Letter to My Father, this is "an artistic and technical tour de force" (Cineaste). DVD includes Facets Cine-Notes(tm) booklet, video introduction by director Jan Nemec, and bonus featurette containing rare photos and video shot by Nemec. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 2001, 68 mins. DVD | $44.95
Lemonade Joe Oldrich Lipsky At the Trigger Whiskey Saloon, a beautiful temperance crusader is threatened by hard-drinking villains. Riding to her rescue is Lemonade Joe, who - as his moniker indicates - doesn't touch the "fire water." A sweet and often very funny spoof of Hollywood westerns from director Oldrich Lipsky, who began his career as artistic director of Prague's Satirical Theater and went on to make several memorable film comedies. In Czech with English subtitles. Czecholslovakia, 1964, 87 mins. DVD | $44.95
Murder Czech Style Jiri Weiss Jiri Weiss' Murder Czech Style features an endearing performance by Rudolf Hrusinsky as a contented, chubby and slightly clumsy office clerk who gets a shot at true love only to eventually discover that his wife is having a torrid affair with the manager of her husband's company. In a film which is one of the often overlooked masterpieces of the Czech New Wave, Weiss shows "Czech indecisiveness, pettiness and opportunism in a mixture of the imaginary and the real." Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1966, 90 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
Old Believers: Three Films by Jana Sevcikova Jana Sevcikova In the outlands of Eastern Europe, acclaimed filmmaker Jana Sevcikova spent years chronicling the descendants of immigrants and exiles. The resulting poetic, intimate documentaries capture the unique lives and customs of people unknown to most of the world. Shot over five years, the award-winning Old Believers (2001, 46 mins.) documents a strongly religious community where time seems to stand still. This haunting film presents the meditative rhythm of the place, giving transcendental significance to even the most ordinary everyday tasks. Sevcikova further explores the humanity and mystery of people from another place and time in Piemule (1984, 43 mins.), offering a close look at the descendants of Czech immigrants in Romania, and Jakub (1992, 65 mins.), the story of Ruthenian Jakub Popovich in western Bohemia. Includes portion of a Q&A session at the 2002 Telluride Film Festival between students and Sevcikova and Werner Herzog, and a Cine-Notes booklet transcribing the entire Q&A session. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1984-2001, 154 mins. DVD | $44.95
On the Comet Karel Zeman Jules Verne's science fiction adventure is brought to life by Czech animator Karel Zeman. Since the early 1950's Zeman has been directing highly imaginative films that combine animation and live action and are marked by their fantastic trick effects. A film for the whole family! English dialog. Czechoslovakia, , 76 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
Oratorio for Prague Jan Nemec One of the most powerful documentaries ever made and a unique document of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Oratorio for Prague "is a film so moving that one is near tears from the first moment after the credits appear. The movie was begun as a documentary about the liberalization of Czechoslovakia and then simply continued when the Russian tanks moved in," wrote Renata Adler in The New York Times. The only filmed record of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the raw footage for Oratorio for Prague, when broadcast by television, was seen by more than 600 million people, and became the first information that the Soviet Army had not been "invited" in. Narrated in English. Czechoslovakia/France, 1968, 26 mins. Videocassette | $37.95
Pearls of the Deep Jiri Menzel/Jan Nemec/Evald Schorm/Vera Chytilova/Jaromil Jires Jiri Menzel (Closely Watched Trains), Jaromil Jires (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders), and three other directors from the 1960's Czech New Wave contribute witty, entertaining shorts, each based on a different story by legendary writer Bohumil Hrabal. The anthology showcases the groundbreaking styles and bold new themes of a new cinematic era. These young directors took advantage of a more liberal political climate to make films that were daring in both content and style. Includes Mr. Baltazar (Jiri Menzel), The Swindlers (Jan Nemec), House of Joy (Evald Schorm), The Globe Buffet (Vera Chytilova), and Romance (Jaromil Jires). In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1965, 103 mins. DVD | $44.95
Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (Sweet Light in a Dark Room) Jiri Weiss Romeo, Juliet and Darkness is a radical departure for Czech filmmaking in its unconventional treatment of the Anne Frank theme in a Czech setting. Pavel, a student, hides Hana, a young Jewish girl, in the attic of his apartment building. He is her only link to the outside world, and their growing trust develops into love, until the two are discovered by Pavel's mother. Weiss' double tragedy of young love and the moral question of responsibility to the Jews during the Nazi occupation is treated with poetic restraint. This film is a powerful condemnation of indifference toward force and terrorism. Also known as Sweet Light in a Dark Room. Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1959, 96 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
The Shop on Main Street Jan Kadar/Elmar Klos A haunting work about the intersecting of the political and personal, developed through the strange yet touching relationship of an elderly Jewish shop owner and a passive carpenter whom the Nazis appoint as her "Aryan controller." Winner of the 1966 Best Foreign Film Oscar. With Ida Kaminska and Josef Kroner. "It manages to translate the apocalyptic tragedy of our century into human terms and to do so with laughter and tears, with scorn and passion" (Judith Crist). In Slovak with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1965, 128 mins. DVD | $44.95
Something Like Happiness (Stesti) Bohdan Slama A darkly absurd and poignant comedy from Academy Award-nominated writer-director Bohdan Slama (Wild Bees), "whose talent for locating the dignity in the downtrodden of his native Czech Republic is on moving display in widescreen drama Something Like Happiness" (Variety). Three longtime friends provide hope for one another in their complicated struggles with romantic abandonment, infidelity, and the expanding industrialization in their once Bohemian city. Winner of six Czech Lions, including Best Actor (Pavel Liska), Actress (Tatiana Vilhelmova), Supporting Actress (Anna Geislerova), Cinematography (Divis Marek), Screenplay, Best Director and Best Film. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic/Germany, 2005, 102 mins. DVD | $37.95
Three Wishes for Cinderella (Tri Orisky Pro Popelku) Vaclav Vorlicek This 1973 cult classic is a sumptuous, beautifully realized retelling of the Cinderella fable with a twist; this Cinderella rides horses and shoots like a sharpshooter. Cinderella's strength of character and control over her own destiny, in addition to wonderful set design and camerawork, distinguishes this version of the story and adds to its timeless grace. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1973, 85 mins. DVD | $37.95
Valerie and her Week of Wonders Jaromil Jires The line between fantasy and reality are blurred in this surreal and sexual horror tale from one of the Czech New Wave's top directors. After receiving a pair of bewitched earrings, a young girl's world is turned upside-down. Soon, vampires and carnal priests disrupt the girl's slumber, ravaging her innocence and awakening the woman within. Beautifully filmed. In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1970, 73 mins. DVD | $44.95
The White Dove Frantisek Vlacil A beautiful, poetic vision from the director of Marketa Lazarova. A sick carrier pigeon en route to its home on the Baltic Sea becomes lost and lands in Prague, where it is rescued and nurtured back to health by a small, frail boy. Soon the boy and the bird develop a friendship that touches all around them. In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 1960, 67 mins. DVD | $44.95
Who Wants to Kill Jessie? Vaclav Vorlicek/Milos Macourek A Czech New Wave classic, Who Killed Jessie is a zany comedy about a scientist who invents a machine that enables a sleeping person's dreams to be viewed through a projector. Trouble ensues when she uses the device to watch her husband's dreams. In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1965, 80 mins. DVD | $44.95
Witches' Hammer Otakar Vavra A riveting and often disturbing dramatization of the deadly witch hunts that plagued Czechoslovakia in the late 17th century from acclaimed director Otakar Vavra. A ruthless inquisitor is called out of retirement by the church to investigate allegations of heresy. Driven by greed and bloodlust, he finds cause to accuse anyone he wishes of witchcraft, leading to the brutal torture and deaths of hundreds of people. In Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1969, 103 mins. DVD | $44.95
Wolf Trap Jiri Weiss A landmark in Czech cinema, Wolf Trap is set in a small town in Moravia and focuses on a marital triangle. The town veterinarian is married to an older, domineering yet insecure and needful wife. They adopt an orphaned teenage girl. As the veterinarian gradually falls in love with his adopted daughter, director Jiri Weiss brilliantly constructs a psychological prison of middle class life from which there is no escape. Czech with English subtitles. Czechoslovakia, 1957, 95 mins. Videocassette | $44.95
Zelary Ondrej Trojan This sweeping romantic drama was the Czech submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2003. Set during the Nazi occupation of Czech lands, the film follows Eliska (Anna Geislerova), a young nurse who joins up with a secret resistance movement with her surgeon husband. He is discovered, however, and Eliska is forced to flee to a remote mountain cabin in the Moravian village of Zelary with a patient whose life she saved (Gyorgy Cserhalmi). With a mixture of regret, fear, suspicion, and eventually love, Eliska waits out the war in a setting that is alien to her. "A film that provides all the old-fashioned pleasures and satisfactions of a Victorian triple-decker" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times). In Czech with English subtitles. Czech Republic, 2003, 150 mins. DVD | $44.95
