The famous Czech directors Jiri Menzel has a new project in mind, adapting I Served the King of England, a novel published in 1971 by Bohumil Hrabal (1914-1997). This film, produced by AQS, Bioscop, and the TV channel, is the emblematic director’s first film after 11 years off the screen (his last feature film was released in 1994). He proved his talent decades ago, especially by winning the 1968 Oscar as Best Foreign Film with Closely Observed Trains and the 1990 Golden Bear in Berlin with Larks on a String (20 years after it was made and banned).
After years of juridical uncertainties concerning the novel’s copyright, for several Czech directors (Karel Kachyna, Jan Sverak, Jan Hrebejk, and others) were interested in adapting I Served the King of England, Jiri Menzel won that right. Let’s point out that he knows perfectly Bohumil Hrabal’s work —he has already adapted three of his books. The film recounts, from the end of the 30’s until the communist took power of the country, the adventures of a poor young men who aspires to wealth, starts as a groom, becomes a waiter and then a maitre D, which brings him close to powerful people, splendid women and millionaires. He marries a German woman and keeps being a political follower, changing opinion with each new government. It is the destiny of an ordinary man who is the pure product of a 20th Century Central Europe.
The script is currently being written. I Served the King of England will be shot between November 2005 and March 2006 ; it should be released in October 2006.
(The article continues below - Commercial information)
(Translated from French)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
