I Served the King of England -

directed by Jiri Menzel
Czech Republic | Slovakia 2006

Jan Díte is a “small man from a small world.” Despite this he has big ambitions – and here he tells his story. We meet him (played by Oldrich Kaiser) in his declining years after he has just been released after a 15-year jail term, but it’s clear the spark of wit is still with him as he flirts with a young girl he meets in the forest and begins to do up the wreck of a pub he has been sent to live in.

As Jan tells his tale in flashback, the episodes have a feel of a lavish fairytale, as his memory fills each scene with sheen and gloss. He begins as the humblest of train station sausage sellers but quickly moves up to waiting on tables, toiling for tips in a down-at-heel pub where his spry manner means he has a winning way with the clients. In moments of boredom he tosses loose change on the floor, making him, for a moment, the tallest in the room as rich businessmen scrabble about for it.

Early on, he forms a friendship with a man named Walden (Marián Labuda), who has a penchant for spreading his cash on the carpet to show how wealthy he is. Jan sees this as the perfect sport and aims to do likewise, since “Money can lay the world at your feet”. In addition to working his way through a succession of pubs and hotels he also has liaisons with a string of girls and proves a passionate and creative lover.

Excerpt of review from Amber Wilkinson at Eye For Film located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: Czech Republic 19 December 2006, Germany 16 February 2007 (Berlin International Film Festival)

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DVD Review: Shock - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Shock Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:54:20 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1:1.85 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7,66 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Czech; German (Dolby Digital 5.1), Czech; German (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English (Forced)
Features	Release Information: Studio: Shock Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1:1.85 Edition Details: • Trailer (2:28) • Photo Gallery DVD Release Date: September 5th, 2008 Keep Case Chapters 13

Comments

It's always a pleasure to watch a film made by Jiri Menzel and Bohumil Hrabal - Pearls of the Deep (1966), Closely Watched Trains (1966), Larks on a String (1969 / 1990), Postriziny (1981), The Snowdrop Festival (1984) and I Served the King of England (2006). I Served the King of England is like a fresh wind from the golden age of Czech comedy.

The anamorphic image is solid, though a little bit soft and the black levels are occasionally more towards gray. I have seen a Czech DVD screener, and it was identical to this one , so I suppose the image is the best SD can perform.

There are two audio tracks. A more dynamic DD 5.1 mix, and a DD 2.0 for normal Tube users.

The only extra is a trailer. The English subtitles are forced.

The Australian DVD from Shock, is full of errors on the back cover: It's not a DVD-4 (!) (Single layer), it's a DVD-9 (Double layer) and has occupied 6.99 Gb of space. The main language is not English, it's in the original Czech / German language. And it's not Region 4, it's region free.

The same title is coming soon from Arrow Films (UK), and those who have patient: Sony Classic is holding the US rights, and it's rumored that they will release it in Blu-ray.

- Per-Olof Strandberg

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