Vladimír Smutný

Camera operator

July 13, 1942 (82 years)

† June 7, 2025

Prague, Protektorát Cechy a Morava [now Czech Republic]

Biography

No biography available.

Filmography

7.9

Maigret

The pragmatic, reserved and refined Maigret investigates murders in his singular unhurried manner and inevitably discovers the truth.

5.9

Forbidden Empire

Early 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassible woods. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world.

7.1

The Painted Bird

After losing his parents, a young Jewish boy wanders Eastern Europe, seeking refuge during World War II.

5.8

Extractors

The story focuses on a special unit of Czech intelligence, known as the Extraktoři (Extractors). The unit operates in secret and its main mission is to ensure the safe return of endangered Czechs from abroad. The story offers insight into the world of espionage and international covert operations and is inspired by true events.

9.0

The Train of Childhood and Expectation

A story of a little girl Verka and her life during the beginning of WWII. Based on Vera Sládková novels.

7.3

Kolya

After a fictitious marriage with a Russian emigrant, Cellisten Louka, a Czech man, must suddenly take responsibility for her son. However, it’s not long before the communication barrier is broken between the two new family members.

9.0

Jan Hus

Prague at the end of the 14th century: King Wenceslas, his brother Sigismund, the Archbishop of Prague Zbynek and three popes are locked in a power struggle. All lay claim to influence over the Holy See. Jan Hus, a master of Charles University and preacher, feels partly responsible for the fate of the divided church and its faithful, for whom it serves as a role model. He thus attracts the resentment of the powerful. "Jan Hus" is the story of a man who, because of his convictions, faced death in the battle between the opinions and ambitions of ecclesiastical and secular authorities.

5.8

Shadow of the Sword

Central Europe, early 16th century: two childhood friends, Martin & Georg, find themselves on rival sides of a religious war with both of them struggling to do the right thing.

4.8

The Shooter

A CIA agent gets caught up in political intrigue after he gets brought in to solve the murder of a Cuban ambassador.

9.0

My z konce světa

No description available

6.5

The Manor

The Manor, a dark funny version of Akira Kurosawa's " Rashomon". During a snowstorm, Patrick Roarke, a manservant, is found dead at the bottom of the main staircase in a gothic English mansion. Inspector Hatcher is sent to investigate the death. When he arrives, he finds a household consisting of five women. When questioned by the inspector, each of the women tells a different story, all of which are illustrated by flashback scenes showing the events as related by that particular person. Everybody seems to protect somebody and the inspector becomes increasingly intoxicated as he tries to untangle the web of lies in his endeavour to find out the truth.

5.5

Lea

51-year-old Herbert Strehlow, a furniture restorer, falls in love with 21-year-old Lea, who has not spoken a word since childhood when her father killed her mother. She bears a striking resemblance to Herbert's dead wife. They get married, but their relationship seems doomed, until gradually each one manages to penetrate the mysterious world of the other, and they begin to realize that they are bound by a kind of spiritual relationship. For Lea it is the death of her mother, for Herbert it is the death of his first wife. His hard exterior slowly beings to thaw, and he starts to show feelings and responses that soften Lea's initial hatred and fear of him, and which put their relationship in a more positive light.

6.8

Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia

The film adaptation of the novel of the same by Michal Viewegh. The hero of the novel is a primary school teacher with a successful writing career ahead of him who accepts well-paid employment from an entrepreneur who entrusts him with the task of making his unusual daughter "see sense".

3.3

Vražedné stíny

Lieutenant Alan Kreiner tries to obtain evidence of criminal activity through an informant. However, when his boss is shot with his gun, Alan is accused of the murder and must prove his innocence.

6.9

Dark Blue World

Lt. Franta Slama is a top pilot in the Czech Air Force who is assigned to train a promising young flier, Karel Vojtisek, and they soon become friends. When Nazi Germany invades Czechoslovakia in 1939, they both reject the authority of their new leaders and escape to England where they join other Czech exiles in the RAF. While flying a mission over England, Karel crash lands and happens upon the farmhouse of Susan, a young woman whose husband is in the Navy. Karel soon falls head over heels for Susan but, while they enjoy a brief fling, in time Susan decides she prefers the company of the older and more worldly Franta. As Franta and Karel struggle to maintain their friendship despite their romantic rivalry.

4.2

Oko ve zdi

The aging couple might have been enjoying a gracious autumn of their lives had it not been for a crack in the wall that revealed a secret that changed their lives forever. A secret that became a nightmare. A secret of the past... Can the past kill? A loving couple enters the abandoned house she has chosen as a meeting place one wet and rainy morning. It could have been an ordinary date. On inspection, they enter a room with only a small window and one door. Suddenly the door closes... an eye watches them through a crack in the wall. That eye doesn't bode well!

4.0

Vysoká hra

No description available

7.3

Secluded, Near Woods

The Lavicka's, a Czech family from the city, rents a house in the country with the option to buy. However, old Mr Komarek seems reluctant to sell the house as they agreed.

5.0

Flower Buds

Flower Buds tells the story of the gradual breakdown of a family living in a small town. Each character lives according to his or her own ideals. Agata wants a happy life far from home, fully aware that her only hope is to escape and therefore betray those close to her. Honza believes in the purity and power of love, regardless of the circumstances under which it is born. Kamila looks confidently to the future and does not intend to accept the misery of the present. The only Jarda knows that he will not change the world or himself. Aware of his weakness, he does not even try. In his mind, of course, his addiction to slot machines, which has led to a nearly impossible situation, is as certain as most gamblers' belief of an imminent win. The real and convincing attempt to rescue his family comes when it is too late. It is just a futile gesture, a desperate last ditch effort.

4.6

Vím, že jsi vrah...

Dana Martinová, a young woman of loose morals, dies at the hands of a mentally unstable young man, Pavel Zach. In a fit of jealousy, he could not restrain himself and killed the girl with a blow to the head. The police find the corpse thanks to Dana's friend Eva Simonova. And it's Eva who becomes Pavel's second victim. The young man, afraid of being found out, attacks the girl and drowns her in the bathtub. Lieutenant Zeman, a criminal investigator, is put in charge of the double murder as his first case, assisted by his more experienced colleague Suchánek. However, the investigation initially goes nowhere. While Pavel's father tries to have his mentally ill son committed to a psychiatric hospital, Pavel commits another murder out of fear. Neither he nor the investigators know that Pavel has been a mere tool in the hands of someone else for some time...