Director:		Jan Sverák
Year:		1996
Language:		Czech/Russian
Time:		105 minutes

A Czech concert cellist, having lost his place in the state orchestra, must make ends meet by playing at funerals and painting tombstones. He agrees to a scheme for making money by marrying a Russian woman so that she can get Czech papers. She soon emigrates to Germany, leaving her five-year-old Kolja with his reluctant stepfather.

The film received an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film.

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality.

Post-film discussion led by Steve Baluch.

Links

About the director.

A review of Czech film history during and after communism.

Other background on the film.