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
Jan Pohan
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Amadeus (1984)
Jako kníže Rohan (1983) (TV movie)
Witchhammer (1969)
Bert Schneider
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Best movies:
Vladimír Hrubý
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Give the Devil His Due (1984)
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
Adela Has Not Had Her Supper Yet (1978)
Karel Hovorka st.
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Jako kníže Rohan (1983) (TV movie)
The Cremator (1968)
Secluded, Near Woods (1976)
Jaroslav Cmíral
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Alexandr Dumas starší (1970) (series)
Bellevue (1969) (TV movie)
Konec velké epochy (1965) (TV movie)
Josef Bádal
Best movies:
The Hippo (1973)
Milan Mach
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Hamlet (1986) (theatrical recording)
Tažní ptáci (1983) (TV movie)
The Good Soldier Schweik (1956)
Miloš Vavruška
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Charleyova teta (1969) (theatrical recording)
Sňatky z rozumu (1968) (series)
Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)
Jana Sedlmajerová
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Best movies:
Men About Town (1969)
Riders in the Sky (1968)
Adela Has Not Had Her Supper Yet (1978)
Eduard Pavlíček
Austria
Best movies:
Kočičí hra (1982) (theatrical recording)
Naši furianti (1983) (theatrical recording)
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
Viktor Maurer
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Amadeus (1984)
Jako kníže Rohan (1983) (TV movie)
Men About Town (1969)
Vladimír Bičík
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Cyrano z Bergeracu (1986) (theatrical recording)
Král Krysa (1979) (theatrical recording)
Sňatky z rozumu (1968) (series)
Jiřina Zemanová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Adela Has Not Had Her Supper Yet (1978)
Naši furianti (1971) (theatrical recording)
Day for My Love (1976)
Martin Vrabec
Best movies:
The Hippo (1973)
Jiří Šulc
Best movies:
Weapons for Prague (1974)
The Hippo (1973)
Míla Svoboda
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
Station Master (1941)
Adela Has Not Had Her Supper Yet (1978)
Accused (1964)
Oldřich Hoblík
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
Men About Town (1969)
The Good Soldier Schweik (1956)
Conscience (1948)
Miroslav Laňka
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Case for a Rookie Hangman (1969)
Passing Through a Thick Forest (1963)
Kam doskáče ranní ptáče (1987)
Jiří Ondroušek
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Lucy and Miracles (1970)
The Hippo (1973)
Vratislava Jelínková
Best movies:
Devilish Honeymoon (1970)
Svět otevřený náhodám (1971)
The Hippo (1973)