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Zátopek film image, director David Ondříček

Zátopek

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Canadian Premiere

Fifty years after his retirement, they were still calling him the greatest runner of all time. Emil Zátopek (played by Václav Neužil) didn’t look like much of an athlete—he was all elbows and knees. He hurled himself down the track, always grimacing, hair in permanent retreat, and he panted so loudly when he ran that they nicknamed him “The Czech Locomotive”. But long distance running doesn’t award points for style, and Zátopek had a knack for crossing the finish line first. In 1952, he won Olympic gold medals in the 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon, breaking Olympic records in each event—an unparalleled achievement.

David Ondříček’s engaging movie—the Audience Winner at the 2021 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival—artfully cuts between the famously gregarious runner in retirement, giving eccentric counsel to his friend, the Australian athlete Ron Clarke, while romping through the Czech’s illustrious career highlights, his tense relationship with the communist authorities, and most poignantly, his lifelong love affair with Olympic javelin thrower Dana Zátopková (a spunky Martha Issová).

 

Audience Award, Karlovy Vary 2021

Director
Cast

Václav Neužil, Martha Issová, James Frecheville, Robert Mikluš, Jiří Šimek

Credits
Country of Origin

Czech Republic/Slovakia

Year

2021

Language

In Czech and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
131 min
Action & Suspense Award Winners Drama

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Credits

Executive Producer

Daria Špačková

Producer

Kryštof Mucha, David Ondříček

Screenwriter

David Ondříček, Alice Nellis, Jan P. Muchow

Cinematography

Štěpán Kučera

Editor

Jarosław Kaminski

Original Music

Beata Hlavenková

Director

David Ondříček headshot, Zátopek director

David Ondříček

David Ondříček is a screenwriter, producer, and one of the most distinctive post-revolution Czech directors. He debuted with the film Whisper (1996), followed by Loners (2000), One Hand Can’t Clap (2003), and Grandhotel (2006), all of which are considered Czech classics. His next feature film, In the Shadow (2012), won in all major categories at domestic film awards, and was the Czech Republic’s nominee for the Academy Awards. In 2013, Ondříček was listed in Variety Magazine’s 10 Directors to Watch.

Filmography: Whisper (1996); One Hand Can’t Clap (2003); Grandhotel (2006); In the Shadow (2012)