Zdeněk Svěrák
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936 in Prague) is a Czech actor, humorist and scriptwriter. He is one of the most popular Czech cultural personalities. In 1989, he was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1958, he graduated in Czech language and literature at the Faculty of Education of Charles University in Prague. He has worked in a wide variety of capacities. His work contains more than 300 musical texts, plays and more than ten movies. Among his film scripts are Kolya (Czech: Kolja, Academy Award winning film) and The Elementary School (Czech: Obecná Škola, nomination for Academy Award), both directed by his son Jan Svěrák. With his close friend Ladislav Smoljak, he created the fictional personality (universal genius, inventor, sportsman, criminalist, poet, writer and philosopher) Jára Cimrman who won the voting for The Greatest Czech in 2005 (only the fact that Cimrman is fictional prevented him from actually winning). Zdeněk Svěrák also founded a charity organization Paraple (in English, "Umbrella") which focuses on helping paralyzed individuals.
| Known For | Writing |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.8072 |
| Birthday | 1936-03-28 |
| Place of Birth | Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic] |
| Also Known As | Zdenek Sverák, |
1996
Kolya
7.377/220
After a fictitious marriage with a Russian emigrant, Cellisten Louka, a Czech man, must suddenly take responsibility for her son. However, it’s not lo...
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Kolya
2007
Empties
6.805/77
Czech literature teacher Josef Tkaloun, who is past retirement age, realises one day that he no longer understands his pupils, and so he quits… dramat...
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Empties
1985
My Sweet Little Village
7.425/87
The movie's main storyline follows the life of Otík, a young man, in a tight-knit village community. The sweet-tempered Otík works as an assistant tru...
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My Sweet Little Village
2005
Pocta V+W
0/0
Jiří Suchý recalls two of the most prominent artistic and creative figures in Czechoslovak culture of the last century: Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich.
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Pocta V+W
1979
Ball Lightning
7.348/23
A comedy about exchange of 12 apartments , which, its organizer, lawyer Radosta, rightly called Action Ball Lightning. To prepare, organize and execut...
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Ball Lightning
1984
The Three Veterans
7.775/40
It is a story of three veterans released from the army. During one night spent camping in the country they one by one wake up and meet three elvish br...
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The Three Veterans
1994
Accumulator 1
6.965/43
In this movie, TV sets are full of life. If a person is in TV (e.g. because it was filmed on the street) it has a double that's right in the TV set. T...
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Accumulator 1
1971
Moderní byt
3.333/3
Tenants are moving into new apartments in the housing estate, including a young couple. One of the neighbors has a special hobby: spying on their neig...
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Moderní byt
1984
Inzerát
0/0
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Inzerát
1982
Calamity
5.7/12
Funny banter about love, sex, social status, and other ideals, while a new railway employee is trained and sent on his first run as driver.
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Calamity
1985
Dissolved and Effused
6.875/16
A police inspector and inexperienced trainee search for a mysteriously disappeared manufacturer of ointments for hair growth.
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Dissolved and Effused
1998
Investigation of the Loss of a Class Book
7.1/5
The impetus for writing the play was a real event - the investigation of the loss of the class register at a boys' school in Vienna's 4th district. Th...
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Investigation of the Loss of a Class Book
1997
Lijavec
7.3/5
When late in life was presenting Cimrman his artistic activity, came arresting knowledge: none of the works he had signed, not recognition. And so he...
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Lijavec
1976
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!
7.757/68
This comedy is about one average family. The father works as master in the factory and his son is studying on high school. One day father must start t...
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Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!
1976
Secluded, Near Woods
7.3/43
The Lavicka's, a Czech family from the city, rents a house in the country with the option to buy. However, old Mr Komarek seems reluctant to sell the...
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Secluded, Near Woods
1988
An Uncertain Season
8.05/10
The small group of actors have to face many problems while preparing a new performance.
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An Uncertain Season
1981
The Hit
7.222/9
Mr Jiš managed to give his first script at Barrandov. Already in the preparatory phase, he discovers with horror that the filmmakers have completely b...
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The Hit
2002
Africa
8.5/2
The fourteenth Cimrman play takes us to the heart of a continent almost untouched by civilization. Czech travelers encounter a strange tribe of cannib...
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Africa
1982
Basically Normal
4.8/5
The film follows Karel Novák, who is appointed as the head of a research institute's new department. His ambitious wife, Eva, sees this as an opportun...
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Basically Normal
1981
Chain
4.667/3
Carefree young nurse Marta learns upon her husband's death that he was involved in all manner of criminal activity, which puts her life in danger.
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Chain
1983
Hearty Greetings from the Globe
6.9/9
Two aliens stir up trouble on Earth in order to study humans. Misunderstandings ensue.
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Hearty Greetings from the Globe
2008
Czech Heaven
7.625/8
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Czech Heaven
1997
Pub in the Glade
6.4/4
On the occasion of the opening of the famous Vienna "Riesenrad," a competition was held for the best operetta. A Czech, Jára Cimrman, also submitted h...
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Pub in the Glade
1997
Dumb Bobes, or Czech Tarzan
7/2
The result of a clash between two intellectual forces: the artist's irrepressible creative instinct and the equally irrepressible instinct of the smal...
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Dumb Bobes, or Czech Tarzan
2007
Long, Broad and Nearsight
7.75/4
The play itself tells the story of a harrowing journey aimed at restoring Princess Goldilocks’s feminine beauty—she had been enchanted by the evil gia...
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Long, Broad and Nearsight
2007
The Conquest of the North Pole
7.9/7
Cimrman's play about Czech expedition to north pole.
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The Conquest of the North Pole
1997
The Stand In
10/4
Poverty was one of the many unfortunate aspects of Cimrman's life. His traveling theater company, Lipany, suffered from high actor turnover. If an act...
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The Stand In
1998
The Nude
7.5/5
This traditional seminar will introduce you to the most basic facts about Jára Cimrman. The ensuing play will show how difficult it is for some people...
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The Nude
2006
Cimrman in the World of Music
10/1
The original score was in a sorry state: the notes were carelessly marked, the lines were broken, and the paper was covered in smudges. I took the utm...
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Cimrman in the World of Music
1983
Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping
8.15/20
Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Ladislav Smoljak, about the fictional national hero Jára Cimrman (universal genius, inventor, sportsman, criminal...
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Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping
1974
Joachim, Put It in the Machine
7.3/37
A sincere provincial young man, Frantisek Koudelka leaves to work in Prague. For the trip he buys a computer made horoscope with biorhythms charts, ma...
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Joachim, Put It in the Machine
1990
Larks on a String
6.9/45
In post-WWII Communist Czechoslovakia, several characters considered bourgeois are sentenced to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation. Among them is a...
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Larks on a String
2007
40 let Divadla Járy Cimrmana aneb Ze hry do hry
0/0
Jára Cimrman in the whirlwind of the past forty years, as discovered, recorded, and brought to life by the theater.
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40 let Divadla Járy Cimrmana aneb Ze hry do hry
2022
Chinaski: Každej ví kulový
0/0
Documentary about the Czech band Chinaski.
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Chinaski: Každej ví kulový
1985
What's Up Doc?
6.444/9
Bohouš Burda, a forty-year-old idealist disillusioned with city life and his failing marriage, abandons it all to run a mobile dental clinic in the mo...
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What's Up Doc?
2010
Kooky
6.67/47
Young Ondra has asthma and so his parents throw away his favourite toy: a musty old stuffed bear named Kooky. That night Ondra dreams that Kooky is de...
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Kooky
1991
The Elementary School
7.4/66
The time is 1945-46. 10 year old Eda and his friend Tonda live in a small village outside Prague. In school, their class is so wild and indisciplined...
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The Elementary School
1971
Lucie and the Miracles
4.6/5
The harsh reality of a home for abandoned children blends with episodes of youthful fantasy and slapstick comedy in this story of an orphan girl. Lucy...
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Lucie and the Miracles
2023
Perspektiva Ivana Mládka
8.5/2
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Perspektiva Ivana Mládka
2023
Léta s Jaromírem Hanzlíkem
0/0
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Léta s Jaromírem Hanzlíkem
2014
Three Brothers
6.538/26
Three brothers leave their home to see the world. During their journey, young men as by miracle enter into famous fairy tales (Little Riding Hood, Sle...
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Three Brothers
2004
Daddy
7/4
This film is a documentary-style look at the life of the beloved Czech actor, Zdeněk Svěrák.
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Daddy
2012
The Presence of Arnošt Lustig
0/0
"A man is immortal as long as he lives in the memory of others,” said well-known Czech writer Arnošt Lustig with a wry smile. In December 2006 when he...
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The Presence of Arnošt Lustig
1979
Silvestr 79 aneb Hrajeme si jako děti
0/0
A New Year's Eve television variety show from late 1979.
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Silvestr 79 aneb Hrajeme si jako děti
1971
Silvestr 71
0/0
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Silvestr 71
2023
Kouzelný kopec
0/0
Documentary about Barrandov studios.
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Kouzelný kopec
1986
As Good as Poison
7.2/5
Engineer Pavel Hnyk is successful at work, but not very happy in his private life. He is approaching his fiftieth birthday and he can't shake the feel...
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As Good as Poison
1981
Run, Waiter, Run!
7.135/48
A comedy concerning a down on his luck bookshop owner with a penchant for women who decides to make some money by pretending to be a waiter and collec...
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Run, Waiter, Run!
1984
Bridal Tour to Jilji
7.5/4
A scientist meets a nice girl and they start dating. He decides the only way to find out for sure if she’s the one is to take a long trip with her, bu...
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Bridal Tour to Jilji
2024
Cimrmani zblízka
9/1
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Cimrmani zblízka
1986
The Horns
10/2
A humorous modern fairy tale for adults about the life of devils. This is the story of a young couple in love: two devils named Artur and Blanka. Happ...
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The Horns
1982
Like Rabbits
5/4
A story of two boys who during the summer at a recreation area become best friends despite being enemies at first.
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Like Rabbits
1985
How Poets Are Losing Their Illusions
6.1/19
A story about a young medical school student and his adventures.
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How Poets Are Losing Their Illusions
2008
Anatomie gagu
0/0
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Anatomie gagu
1980
Brontosaurus
6.2/5
Tomás lives in a very small Czech town and is a nature lover and a birdwatcher. He struggles to keep the forests he loves clean and constantly fights...
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Brontosaurus
1969
Stopa vede do Liptákova
0/0
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Stopa vede do Liptákova
2017
Barefoot
5.577/39
Story of a small boy is forced to move out of Prague during World War 2 to a small village of Slavonice where he meets the rest of his family. He need...
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Barefoot
2017
Psaní do nebe
7/1
The Jára Cimrman Theater staged its first premiere exactly 50 years ago, on October 4, 1967. Its members celebrated the half-century anniversary with...
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Psaní do nebe
1997
Ruffiano and Sweeteeth
7.111/18
Famed outlaw Lotrando sends his son to a strict Catholic boarding school to learn manners, but the boy becomes too polite to lead the band. When they...
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Ruffiano and Sweeteeth
1968
Crime in the Night Club
6.333/9
The theft of a pearl necklace and subsequent murder took place at the Tartaros cabaret. All this could compromise the minister, who is an admirer of t...
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Crime in the Night Club
1971
You Are a Widow, Sir
6.845/29
After a soldier cuts off the arm of king's cousin, king decides to deactivate the army. Of course, generals don't like it at all and they try to kill...
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You Are a Widow, Sir
1984
The Snowdrop Festival
6.629/31
An episodic film about the inhabitants of Kersko, their hardships and their joys, most prominently hunting. A lyrical and humorous adaptation of writi...
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The Snowdrop Festival
1977
30 Maidens and Pythagoras
4.625/8
A musical starring Jiří Menzel (whose part is sung by Achilles Michailidis) as a math and physics teacher employing innovative teaching methods.
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30 Maidens and Pythagoras
2016
Operky
0/0
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Operky
1987
Narostl mu hřebínek
9/1
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Narostl mu hřebínek
2022
Bethlehem Light
3.714/7
A well-known writer now aged 75 is aware of his increasing age and the risk that his literary style will grow worn. His everyday existence is enlivene...
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Bethlehem Light
1997
Cimrmani
0/0
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Cimrmani
1990
Tvrdý chleba
0/0
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Tvrdý chleba
2002
Já a moji synové...
0/0
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Já a moji synové...
1989
Chirurgie
0/0
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Chirurgie
1991
Dobytí severního pólu
9/0
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Dobytí severního pólu
2026
Zdeněk Svěrák 90
4/1
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Zdeněk Svěrák 90
1994
The Ride
6.925/20
Two guys buy a car and travel through the country until they meet a lonely girl on the road. They begin travelling together, having fun, enjoying life...
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The Ride
2010
Nepřítelem osudu
0/0
The life story of heroic war pilot František Truhlář, who became a member of the so-called Guinea Pig Club. After more than 60 years, the first film...
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Nepřítelem osudu
2026
The Invisible Jan Gogola
0/0
A dramaturg is present during the writing of the screenplay, but does not write the film. A dramaturg is present on set, but does not direct the film....
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