Jiri Menzel

I Served the King of England
Running time 120 minutes
Written and directed by Jiri Menzel
Starring Olrich Kaiser, Ivan Bamev, Julia Jentsch

Jiri Menzel’s I Served the King of England, from his own screenplay, based on the novel by Bonumil Hrabal, has been honored as the Czech Republic’s official selection for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. But despite the grim, Holocaustal period in which the film is set, it is mostly bubbly and ebullient in its stylistic execution. The story begins on a physically absurdist note as a markedly short convict, Jan Dite (Olrich Kaiser), is led out of prison by a much larger guard after being released from 15 years of penal servitude for having collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.  read more »