Thursday, January 29, 2009

Overlooked film of the month - I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND - brilliantly eccentric

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND is the misleading title for a brilliantly satirical, eccentric and often surreal comedy from Czech auteur, Jiri Menzel. It tells the fabulous/fabulist life of Jan Dite, an unassuming everyman waiter in Prague who tangles with Nazis, Communists, runs a hotel, serves time, serves luscious food and has comically choreographed sex. It's a leisurely paced two hour stroll through absurd tales of survival in brutal regimes - the film Kafka would've made if he had a food fetish, a fondness for silent movies, and a sense of humour.

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND won the FIPRESCI prize at Berlin 2007. It was released in 2007 and 2008 and is available on DVD.

No comments:

Post a Comment