Capricious Summer

Capricious Summer, 1968
Director: Jirí Menzel; 74a min, Czech, Color
Actors: Rudolf Hrusínský, Vlastimil Brodský, Frantisek Rehák, Míla Myslíková

In Capricious Summer, Jirí Menzel is rejoined by Rudolf Hrusínský (after Closely Watched Trains, 1966) in an adaptation of a Vladislav Vacura novel. Antonin (played by Hrusínský) and his chums are spending the summer as they always do lazing about on the banks of the river and idly philosophizing. This time however their cozy world is invaded by a grubby traveling circus whose company includes a tightrope walker and his lusciously blonde assistant Anna, the latter of whom sets about upsetting the buddies’ idyll. Capricious Summer skillfully blends Czech-style humor and romanticism before a backdrop setting whose colors seem to have been distilled from the substance of an oppressive summer to deliver a lighthearted but ironic comedy about three middle-aged men.