| | | The perfect grouch has met his match. A five-year-old boy named Kolya.
Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Once a renowned cellist in the August Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, middle-aged bachelor Frantisek Louka (Zdenek Sverak) now plays funerals at the city crematorium. Strapped for cash and lacking many material comforts, Louka frequently indulges himself with the company of other men's wives. Occupied by the Russians, Prague is on the eve of the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Louka has no idea that more than political change abounds. The personal revolution he is about to experience is just as unpredictable as the revolution outside his window. His entire life is interrupted when a friendly grave digger (Ondrez Vetchy) proposes that Louka marry his distant Russian niece (Irena Livanova) who needs Czech papers. No ties. No obligations. Just a signature in exchange for enough money to buy a small car and pay the rent. Resolved to maintain his bachelor lifestyle, Louka refuses. But when the grave-digger's niece turns out to be young and beautiful, he changes his mind. The simple plot throws Frantisek Louka into a series of unexpected episodes, altering his life beyond recognition. His bride quickly emigrates to Germany to join her lover, leaving behind her six-year-old Russian son, Kolya (Andrej Chalimon). The young boy is left in Louka's care, inviting the turmoil of the country into his own small apartment.
"Witty and funny!" The New York Observer
"A can't-miss-crowd-pleaser!" Los Angeles Times
"A gem of a film!" The New York Times
"A triumph!" Playboy
Editor's Note
When a financially strapped former symphony cellist, now making a meager living by playing at funerals, gets pressured into a paper marriage with a friend's single-mother niece, his roving-eye bachelor life is turned upside-down. The beautiful young woman immediately abandons her new husband and her five-year-old son, and the unlikely duo struggles to adjust to their new lives in Prague on the eve of 1989's Velvet Revolution. Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Academy Award: Best Foreign Language Film.
Plot Summary
Set in Czechoslovakia shortly before the 1989 Velvet Revolution, "Kolya" is the story of an aging cynic named Frantisek, a Czech who weds a Russian woman for her money. Suddenly, the woman flees to West Germany, leaving behind her young son Kolya. The crotchety Frantisek wants nothing to do with the child -- they don't even speak the same language. But as the old man tries to dump Kolya on someone else, the pair slowly develop a lasting, poignant relationship, that enriches both of their lives.
| Features | Subtitles: English | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Access | | Widescreen Version Enhanced For 16x9 TVs | | Behind The Scenes Featurette | | Audio: Czech Dolby Digital Surround, French |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 3/7/2006 |
| Running Time: 105 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1996 | | Catalog ID: 10645 | | UPC: 00786936190458 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Czech | | Available Audio Tracks: Czech | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.66:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1997) |  | Jan Sverak, Winner, Best Foreign Language Film | |
Golden Globe (1997) | | Jan Sverak, Winner, Best Foreign Language Film |
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| | Professional Reviews | USA Today
"...A feel-good movie dealing in part with Soviet bloc bureaucracies in 1988..." -- 3 out of 4 stars 02/13/1997 p.4DVariety
"...[Kolya] balances heartwarming sentiment with gentle humor and observations that strike universal chords..." 09/09/1996 New York Times
"...A gem of a Czech film....Wise and worldly..." 01/24/1997 p.C3 Entertainment Weekly
"...Lovely....It's a heart melter....Chalimon is a gem..." -- Rating: A- 03/07/1997 p.50 Los Angeles Times
"...KOLYA is a crowd-pleaser....Chalimon is irresistible....With the further pluses of luminous cinematography and a soaring, emotional score, KOLYA can't miss..." 01/24/1997 p.F1 Chicago Sun-Times
"...There are some lovely, affecting and warmly amusing moments here..." 01/31/1997 p.37 Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
...What makes Kolya special is the way it paints the details... it has a cheerful, irreverant humor, and an eye for the absurdities of human behavior... - Roger Ebert
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