Sindre Kaspersen Czechoslovakian screenwriter, actor and director Jirí Menzel's sixteenth feature film is an adaptation of a novel from 1971 by Czech author and frequent collaborator of the director Bohumil Hrabal (1914-1997) which was shot on various locations in the Czech Republic and written by Jirí Menzel. It tells the story about Jan Díte, an old retired man who reminiscences the time when he as an ambitious young man encountered a successful business man who inspired him to become a millionaire and the time when he began working as a waiter at a high standard hotel in Prague for Skrivanek, the headwaiter who once served the king of England.This brilliantly directed Czech, German, Hungarian and Slovakian co-production by Czech New Wave director Jirí Menzel, a character-driven journey through a cheerful and ambitious man's eventful life, depicts a multifaceted study of character about a very determined, articulate and good-hearted man who has numerous relationships with various women on his way towards fulfilling his dream. Shifting from past to present with an efficient narrative structure, this well-paced, imaginatively written and humorous drama, which functions well both as a period piece and a social-satire, creates a visually beautiful and adventurous story about life, destiny, dreams and love.This moving comedy which Jirí Menzel got to direct after waiting ten years for the settlement over a rights dispute, is finely photographed by Czech cinematographer Jaromír Sofr, has some notable production design and some wonderful acting performances by Czech actor Ivan Barnev and German actress Julia Jentsch in a role which is significantly contrary from the one she played in German director Marc Rothemund's "Sophie Scholl-The Final Days" (2005). A romantic, charming and life-affirming film which gained, among other awards, the FIPRESCI Prize and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival in 2007.

vainoni This is a visually lush, well-acted and extremely well-crafted movie about a little man caught in a vast political machine. Like Hasek's Svejk, Hrabal's Dite meanders through war and politics like a kitten in a minefield, and miraculously escapes to tell the tale.Much has been made (by some reviewers) of the supposed sexism and sympathy for Nazis in this movie. I say "supposed" because neither is actually present; "I Served the King of England" is told in a highly satirical vein, and the deadpan delivery of Oldrich Kaiser's narration as old Dite serves both to condemn what's being shown on screen and make it vaguely humorous and farcical. Dite ignores politics, as much as possible (and as so many Czechs tried to do during the second World War).To draw a comparison which may or may not be apt, Dite's story reminds me of that of Max Lorenz, an opera singer and Hitler's favorite tenor. Post-WWII he was condemned as a Nazi tenor in many circles; the war tainted his name. But Max Lorenz was homosexual, married to a Jew, and he protected his wife's family from the SS! Dite may have married a Nazi sympathizer, and worked for Nazis, but he shows none of the coldness of an SS serviceman: the scene where he runs after the train heading to the concentration camp holding out a sandwich to the detainees is heartbreaking. And his release of the stamps his wife stole from "deported" Jews speaks strongly to the change that has been wrought in him by the movie's end. Old Jan Dite is no longer politically ignorant or out for himself. He works hard to create a new place for himself, and when the movie ends we know that his work is far from over.As for the objectification of women: it is absolutely present in this movie, but just because it's on the screen doesn't mean the director approves of it. (I'm a woman, and believe you me, the sex scenes and prostitutes could have been handled *far* more gratuitously.) The satirical element of the film extends into the realm of sexism as well. Throughout both the film and the novel, different groups of people (women, Jews, and yes, Czechs and even Germans) are treated as less than human by another group. This is not right--Menzel agrees, and hammers his point home with images of objectified women, arrested Czech nationalists and abused German teachers. And (perhaps more to the point) all the depictions of women in the film are also in Hrabal's original novel.This is not an uproariously funny movie, nor is it a heartrendingly dramatic movie. It is, instead, a tone poem: a meditation on life, desire, hope, war, and human nature that doesn't shy away from some of the biggest mistakes and problems in human history. Menzel's light touch and aesthetic eye make it easily watchable, but the murky, dangerous elements of the film lie beneath its pretty surface. As an introduction to Czech cinema, it might not be ideal, but for those who are familiar with Menzel's tone shifts, it is a masterpiece.

Bob Taylor I got a bit of a shock when I saw this film. It doesn't seem to follow the rules of contemporary film-making--in other words, women aren't shown as fully equal to men (although they can be very resourceful in dealing with petty tyranny) and the hero shows no sign of resentment for the way he is treated. I felt a lot closer to the great works of the heyday of classic film by Cukor, Ophuls and Lubitsch. The story unfolds calmly and logically, whether the events take place in the 30's, 40's or 50's of the last century. Ivan Barnev as the young Jan is superb: funny, roguish and balletic (just watch how gracefully he swoops around the restaurant with that heavy tray; wonder how much rehearsal time that needed.) Jiri Menzel made Closely Watched Trains, then saw his career go into eclipse after the Soviet invasion in 1968. The work he has done since hasn't come to my attention until now. This may be his swan-song, since he is 70 now, but I hope not.

Terrell-4 When we first see Jan Dite he is an older man being released from a Czech communist prison. In a bit of gentle humor we learn how fortunate he is. An amnesty has set him free, after he only served 14 years and seven months of a 15-year sentence. His crime? That and other things we'll learn in this picaresque, softly ironic, slightly sarcastic comedy of Nazis and Communists, of getting along and of knowing when to move on. I Served the King of England is a marvelous movie by Jiri Menzel, the Czech director who gave us Closely Watched Trains 40 years earlier. While elements of the plot are discussed, there aren't any serious spoilers. Jan Dite is a young man with all the innocence and practical self-interest of a hungry puppy. He is played by Ivan Barney, short, slim, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a face that, one person said, resembles a mix of, when young, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Roman Polanski and Derek Jacobi. One thing for sure, he's a fine actor. We meet the young man while he's selling sausages at a Czechoslovakia train station in the Thirties. Already he has developed techniques to increase his profit, but he's so earnest, so shy and sly, and so open about it all that we can't help encouraging him. When he realizes even the wealthy will get down on their knees to scrabble after a few coins, he knows he can do just as well as they do. His determination to be a millionaire takes hold. In his climb to success we're with him as he becomes a drinks server and table cleaner in a beer hall, a young man of all duties in a plush resort hotel for the very rich, and a waiter in the dining room of the Hotel Paris, the most beautiful hotel in Prague. Along the way we track his encounters with the arrogant, the wealthy, the helpful and a number of gorgeous prostitutes who service the elderly men who have money. There are voluptuous meals that include oysters, small birds, snails and naked girls, and Jan serves them all. He develops a talent for gracefully dancing around tables holding trays filled with full plates high above his head...and for decorating the naked tummies of lovely women with flowers, or currency, or even the left-over delicacies of a dinner. Roasted pineapple rings were never put to better use. Then the director takes Jan and us into Hitler's takeover of Czechoslovakia, a marriage to a Sudeten lass who is so dedicated to the cause she gazes passionately at a photo of Hitler while poor Jan tries mightily to help make a baby. We visit Jan at work during the war, a wonderful vacation spot run by Himmler where naked Aryan young ladies gambol in the nude, waiting for scientifically selected studly soldiers to impregnate them so that there will be more perfect little blond babies for the Reich. The place soon will be used as a rehabilitation center for soldiers back from the Eastern front with missing limbs. Jan is there, serving and watching them all. But thanks to many valuable stamps taken from the empty homes of Polish Jews by his wife, who left to serve at the front, eventually Jan has his dream come true...he becomes a millionaire after the war, and one who, no less, now owns the Hotel Paris. Jan's basic innocence doesn't prepare him for Communism. At least Jan succeeds in one thing, achieving the company of other millionaires. I Served the King of England is satire, but gently served and with an appealing person in the young Jan Dite (and Dite means "child" in Czech), Picaresque it is, with imaginings of fast footwork, delighted sex, unexpected adventures, innocent opportunism and a funny and delightful score. Much like Closely Watched Trains, there are times when the reality of some of the situations is not amusing. I Served the King of England is that rare movie, a thing to thorough enjoy, with some deftly planted barbs so sharp you scarcely feel them. For something akin to the spirit of the music score, not exactly but with that love for old- style swing, go to YouTube, type in Ondrej Havelka and then click to play the video short "Me To Tady Nebavi." Havelka is a contemporary band leader and singer (and tap dancer) who recreates Czech swing using the appearance of old fashioned style film clips. Bring your love for the offbeat with you.