Cosy Dens

Plot summary

Pelíšky is a bittersweet coming-of-age story set in the months from Christmas 1967 leading up to the ill-fated 1968 Prague Spring. Teenager Michal Šebek (Michael Beran) has a crush on his upstairs neighbor, Jindřiška Krausová (Kristýna Nováková). Michal's family is headed by a stubborn army officer who is a firm supporter of the communist system and who believes that communist technology will eventually triumph over western imperialist capitalism, while Jindřiška's father is an ardent foe of the Communists and a war hero, who has been imprisoned several times because of his outspoken opposition to the regime; he believes that "the Bolsheviks have a year at most, maybe two". In contrast, the younger generation couldn't care less for politics. Instead, Michal sports a Beatles mop-top while Elien (Ondřej Brousek), the local hipster whose parents live in the USA, runs a local film group specialising in Hollywood and pre-war French films, while Jindřiška becomes Elien's girlfriend. After a wedding that unites the families, the film ends with the news breaking of the invasion of the Warsaw Pact.

A dispute in the film illustrates the tension between the nationalistic and fervently anti-Communist father and Jindřiška, who is more apolitical. Jindřiška dares to suggest that her mother’s dumplings are closer to Italian gnocchi than traditional Czech knedliky (translated as "Viennese dumplings" in the English subtitles), sending her father into a rage. The plastic spoon on the poster refers to the gifts, miracles of "socialist science", that a Šebek uncle keeps sending the family and which always fail to perform as promised, humiliating the Mr. Šebek. Both cases foreshadow how the political hopes of the fathers are destroyed by the coming Soviet invasion.

Trivia

Pelíšky was screened at the 1999 Vancouver Film Festival.

The Czech title is a plural and diminutive of the word "pelech", literally meaning animal den or burrow. It is used figuratively for a cosy hideout.

Cast

Soundtrack

The Pelíšky soundtrack was released in April, 1999, and contains clips of some of the actors memorable lines in addition to the musical numbers.

1. Blue Effect - "Slunečný hrob"
2. Miroslav Kaman, Jaroslav Dušek - "Dvě dávky"
3. Václav Neckář - "Tu kytaru jsem koupil kvůli tobě"
4. Boleslav Polívka - "Nebe na zemi"
5. Kristýna Nováková, Michael Beran, Ondřej Brousek - "Kozačky..."
6. Petr Novák & Flamengo - "Povídej"
7. Kristýna Nováková, Michael Beran - "Něco jako příbuzný"
8. Waldemar Matuška - "Pojď se mnou, lásko má"
9. Emília Vášáryová, Jiří Kodet - "Dávám bolševikovi rok"
10. Hana Hegerová - "Čerešně"
11. Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav Polívka, Silvie Koblížková - "Nerozbitná sklenička"
12. Kučerovci - "Ajo mama"
13. Miroslav Donutil, Michael Beran - "Gagarinův bratr"
14. Kučerovci - "La mulher rendeira"
15. Stella Zázvorková, Simona Stašová, Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav Polívka - "Maršál Malinovskij"
16. Judita Čeřovská - "Je po dešti"
17. Eva Holubová, Jaroslav Dušek, Marek Morvai-Javorský - "Vyděržaj, pijaněr"
18. Václav Neckář - "Lékořice"
19. Emília Vášáryová, Kristýna Nováková, Jiří Kodet - "Noky"
20. Karel Gott - "Santa lucia"
21. Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav Polívka, Jiří Kodet - "Kde udělali soudruzi z NDR chybu?"
22. Waldemar Matuška - "Mrholí"
23. Eva Holubová, Jaroslav Dušek, Marek Morvai-Javorský - "Hoří hovno? ..."
24. Karel Gott & Olympic - "Trezor"
25. Jiří Kodet - "Proletáři všech zemí ..."
26. Matadors - "Get Down From The Tree"
27. Soulmen - "Baby Do Not Cry"
28. Soulmen - "I Wish I Were"
29. Blue Effect - "Snakes"
30. Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav Polívka - "Průměrná ženská"
31. Blue Effect - "Sluneční hrob"