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Kolya

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Wikipedia article




'Kolya' is a 1996 Czech drama film about a man whose life is reshaped in an unexpected way. The film was directed by Jan Svrk and stars his father, Zdenk Svrk, who also wrote the script from a story by Pavel Taussig. 'Kolya' earned critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Plot



The film begins in 1988 as the Soviet Bloc is beginning to disintegrate. Frantiek Louka, a middle-aged Czech man dedicated to bachelorhood and the pursuit of women, is a concert cellist struggling to eke out a living by playing funerals at the Prague crematoriums. He has lost his previous job at the Czech Philharmonic, having been half-accidentally blacklisted as "politically unreliable" by the authorities. A friend offers him a chance to earn a great deal of money through a sham marriage to a Soviet woman to enable her to stay in Czechoslovakia. The woman then uses her new citizenship to emigrate to West Germany, where her boyfriend lives.

Due to a concurrence of circumstances, she has to leave behind her 5-year-old son, Kolya, for the disgruntled Czech musician to look after. At first Louka and Kolya have communication difficulties, as they don't speak each other's languages and the many false friend words that exist in Czech and Russian add to the confusion. Gradually, though, a bond forms between Louka and Kolya. The child suffers from suspected meningitis and has to be placed on a course of carefully monitored antibiotics. Louka is threatened with imprisonment for his suspect marriage and the child may be placed in a Soviet children's home. The Velvet Revolution intervenes though, and Kolya is reunited with his mother. Louka and Kolya say their goodbyes.

Louka returns to the Czech Philharmonic and plays 'M Vlast' with the orchestra under the conductor Rafael Kubelk at the Old Town Square in 1990, while his pregnant girlfriend Klra watches from the crowd.

Cast



Home media



The film was released on DVD and VHS on July 2, 2002.

Reception



The film gained positive reviews. It received Honorable Mention at 53rd Venice International Film Festival.

Box office

In the Czech Republic, the movie's country of origin, over 1.34 million visitors made the movie one of the most successful movies ever. In Germany more than 624,000 tickets were sold for the film.[http://lumiere.obs.coe.int/web/film_info/?id=2605 Kolya: Admissions. LUMIERE Database on admissions of films released in Europe]. Retrieved 25 February 2017.

The film was successful on a limited release in the United States from 24 January 1997 and had taken about $5.73 million by 11 July that year after an opening weekend gross on three screens of $37,795.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116790/ 'Kolya: Box Office', IMDB, Undated].Retrieved 24 January 2016.

Awards



* Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

* Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film

* Czech Lion

**Best Film

**Best Director (Jan Svrk)

**Best Actress (Libue afrnkov)

**Best Supporting Actor (Andrey Khalimon)

**Best Screenplay (Zdenk Svrk)

**Best Editing (Alois Firek)

*Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix

See also



* List of submissions to the 69th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

* List of Czech submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References




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