The Czech lion occasionally brings cult pieces, maybe it will be the same this year
Just a few days and we will see who will win the Czech Lion 2025 statuette. Further gems will be added to the showcase of awarded Czech films in Czech cinematography. Let's look back at the old ones, their curiosities and actors. Some films have aged like wine. But some actors have too.
The Czech Lion is a fairly young film award, it has been given only since 1993, yet the archive is already quite filled. We still like to look at some titles to this day. The best actors are also still active, so the number of statuettes among some of them can theoretically still rise.
Most lions: Masaryk Film (2016)
The historically most successful film was Masaryk. It significantly highlighted the screenwriter Petr Kolečko and even though it has a fairly decent 70% rating on csfd, it is associated with great controversies. It was released for distribution only after the Czech Lion, yet it collected a total of 12 statuettes. The production took advantage of the opportunity to exclusively premiere the film earlier in December in the Lucerna cinema, the official large distribution was only later. That was the first reason for criticism.
Audiences were highly critical of the historical inaccuracies, both in context and timeline. For example, Jan Masaryk is portrayed meeting with President Beneš in August 1939. In reality, both politicians were already in London in that year. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk does not die at Prague Castle as in the film, but in Lány. The discrepancies were numerous, spoiling the enjoyment for history buffs.
Although the film is well made, some mistakes were amateurish. For example, in shots of Charles Bridge, modernly dressed tourists can be seen. Even Karel Roden didn't escape the critical eye due to one peculiarity. In one year, he played Jan Masaryk in this film, then subsequently he played Tomáš Gariggua Masaryk in the film The Crime at Pölten.
Historically first winner: Jackal Years (1993)
This musical has become a classic. Martin Dejdar was quite upset that he couldn't sing himself. Ivan Hlas, who sang the songs for Dejdar, also wrote them two years before the film was released. And did you know that the film was supposed to end differently? The screenwriter Petr Jarchovský admitted that the film was supposed to have a different ending. However, his idea was very financially demanding and the scenes were reshot for the newly edited ending.
Most Statuettes: Ivan Trojan and Anna Geislerová with Klára Melíšková
The ranking of the best actors is led by Ivan Trojan with seven trophies, among actresses, Anna Geislerová and Klára Melíšková share the first place with five awards each.
Could any of them be close to an Oscar too? The closest is probably Anna Geislerová, albeit in a bizarre way. She met the Oscar winner Cillian Murphy during the filming of Anthropoid. Tabloid press later confused our actress with Murphy's wife during the presentation of the movie. They simply look alike.
"The first and seemingly last Oscar-winning actor I had the chance to kiss. At work, of course!..."
Anna then wrote on her Instagram.
Stuffed lion ala Golden Raspberry: It's already cancelled
No one will take the stuffed animal anymore. The Anti-award, the worst movie according to critics, was cancelled in 2007, then it was won by the movie The Last Swimwear. Among other "awarded" ones were three series of Kamenak, An Even Bigger Fool Than We Hoped or the movie Nebát se a nakrást (Do not be afraid and cut).
This year's best actors?
In the main category Best Actor in a leading role, this year's nominees are Jan Hájek (Stodola's Spouses), Karel Martinec (Murder), Václav Neužil (Smetana), Vojtěch Vodochodský (Waves) and Oldřich Kaiser (Gardener's Year).
In the main female role, the nominees are Klára Kitto (American Woman), Lucie Žáčková (Stodola's Spouses), Pavla Beretová (Widow's Year), Magdalena Borová (Drought) and Tereza Ramba (Alcoholic's Notebook).
We will find out who will eventually take home the Czech Lion statue on March 8th in a live broadcast on ČT1.
Source: Author's article, ČFTA, ČSFD
