The Hippo

Like other normalizing crazy-comedies, Hroch is also situated in an unknown country, where supernatural phenomena take place. Here, a hippopotamus in the zoo swallows an official called Hroch (Hippo), who lives in the animal's abdominal cavity and communicates with the outside. The obscure and purposeful flop contains many allusions to the events of 1968 and, despite a cautiously lukewarm reception by critics at the time, it earned director Karel Steklý the National Artist title. It perfectly describes the stifling greyness of the incipient normalization and the creative impotence of an otherwise quite skilled director. It is probably the most bizarre cinematic attempt to demonstrate servility to the new regime - so bad that the Febiofest anti-prize for Worst Film of the Year was named after it. (Finále Plzeň)