Directed by:
Karel SteklýScreenplay:
Karel SteklýCinematography:
František UldrichComposer:
Jaromír KlempířCast:
Svatopluk Matyáš, Helga Čočková, Oldo Hlaváček, Helena Blehárová, Miroslav Homola, Zdena Hadrbolcová, Eduard Dubský, Jiří Lír, Slávka Budínová (more)Plots(1)
Like other normalizing crazy-comedies, Hroch is also situated in an unknown country, where supernatural phenomena take place. Here, a hippopotamus in the zoo swallows an official called Hroch (Hippo), who lives in the animal's abdominal cavity and communicates with the outside. The obscure and purposeful flop contains many allusions to the events of 1968 and, despite a cautiously lukewarm reception by critics at the time, it earned director Karel Steklý the National Artist title. It perfectly describes the stifling greyness of the incipient normalization and the creative impotence of an otherwise quite skilled director. It is probably the most bizarre cinematic attempt to demonstrate servility to the new regime - so bad that the Febiofest anti-prize for Worst Film of the Year was named after it. (Finále Plzeň)
(more)Cast
Svatopluk Matyáš
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Riders in the Sky (1968)
All My Loved Ones (1999)
Návštěva z vesmíru (1977) (TV movie)
Helga Čočková
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Best movies:
Partie krásného dragouna (1970)
Scalpel, Please (1985)
Awakening (1959)
Oldo Hlaváček
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Dvanásť nahnevaných mužov (1979) (TV movie)
Na skle maľované (1980) (TV movie)
Sváko Ragan (1976) (TV movie)
Helena Blehárová
Best movies:
Le Concert Midem Cannes 1968 (1968) (concert)
Semafor - Největší hity 2 (2007) (video compilation)
Tím hůř, když padnou (1972) (TV movie)
Miroslav Homola
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Good Soldier Schweik (1956)
Joachim, Put It in the Machine (1974)
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1961)
Zdena Hadrbolcová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Snowdrop Festival (1983)
Boys Will Be Boys (1975)
Romeo a Julie na konci listopadu (1971) (TV movie)
Eduard Dubský
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
Sňatky z rozumu (1968) (series)
The Assassination (1964)
Conscience (1948)
Jiří Lír
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Amadeus (1984)
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
The Cremator (1968)
Slávka Budínová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Sňatky z rozumu (1968) (series)
Kolya (1996)
Byl jednou jeden dům (1974) (series)
Josef Větrovec
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Stolen Airship (1966)
Byl jednou jeden dům (1974) (series)
Svatební cesta do Jiljí (1983) (TV movie)
Jiří Holý
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Ubohý pan Kufalt (1981) (TV movie)
Witchhammer (1969)
Lucerna (1967) (TV movie)
Oldřich Velen
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
All My Compatriots (1968)
Joachim, Put It in the Machine (1974)
Jan Skopeček
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Higher Principle (1960)
Give the Devil His Due (1984)
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
Josef Kobr
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Paní Marjánka, matka pluku aneb Ženské srdce (1980) (TV movie)
Three Wishes (1958)
A Hoof Here, a Hoof There (1988)
Miloš Willig
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Witchhammer (1969)
Sňatky z rozumu (1968) (series)
The Valley of the Bees (1967)
Tomáš Sedláček
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Král Krysa (1979) (theatrical recording)
Young Bohácek's Sufferings (1969)
Muži jdou v tmě (1975) (TV movie)
Josef Hlinomaz
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Emperor's Baker - The Baker's Emperor (1951)
Lemonade Joe (1964)
The Good Soldier Schweik (1956)
Karel Hábl
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Amadeus (1984)
Sňatky z rozumu (1968) (series)
Adelheid (1969)
Ivana Bílková
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
All My Compatriots (1968)
Hope (1963)
The High Wall (1964)
Jiří Jelínek
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Lemonade Joe (1964)
If a Thousand Clarinets (1964)
Concert at the End of Summer (1979)