Since childhood, he grew up with his twin sisters in an intellectual environment, as his father was a journalist, writer and screenwriter. He was fond of reading books and theater, tried to enter the Prague Academy of Art and Music, but since 1957 he began to study film directing under the leadership of O. Vavra at FAMU. His thesis was a short film “Umrel nam pan Forster” (1962). He began in professional cinema as an assistant director for V. Khitilova (later, in a not very easy time for himself,
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Since childhood, he grew up with his twin sisters in an intellectual environment, as his father was a journalist, writer and screenwriter. He was fond of reading books and theater, tried to enter the Prague Academy of Art and Music, but since 1957 he began to study film directing under the leadership of O. Vavra at FAMU.
His thesis was a short film “Umrel nam pan Forster” (1962). He began in professional cinema as an assistant director for V. Khitilova (later, in a not very easy time for himself, in 1976 he will play as an actor in her comedy “Apple Bet” (Hra o jablko). His own work is primarily associated with the screen versions of the works of Bohumil Grabal - the novel "The Death of Mr. Baltazara" (Smrt pana Baltazara, FIPRESSI Award at the IFF in Locarno) in the film "Pearls at the bottom" (Perlicky na dne, 1965), "Trains by close observation" (Ostre sledovane vlaky, 1966, the main prize at the IFF in Mannheim; "Oscar"-67), "Slavonki on the threads" (1983), "Kontikovoznikov" (Koniya) in Berlin, 1990), "The main prize in Moscow, "Kon, "Konti", and "Konnos" (Konti" in the old) "Kon, "Konti" (1980) and "Konnikov, "Konti" (Kontov, "Kontnikov, "Konnikov" (Kontnikov, 1990), "Kontov, "Konnikov, "Kon To some extent, these works are also adjoined by the village comedies “In the Farm by the Forest” (Na samote u lesa (1976, the award at the IFF in Chicago) and “My Central Village” (Vesnicko ma strediskova, 1985, the award at the IFF in Chicago-86, Oscar nomination). All of them are characterized by a special sense of humor of the director - from gentle lyrical, touching and even shy to frankly eccentric, prankish, buffoon, and these transitions from one to another, changing intonations or switching registers of funny can be made not only within one film, but also within any of the scenes.
The most tragic overtones of Menzel’s laughter are found in anti-totalitarian paintings, whether it is a ribbon from the fascist occupation (“Trains under Close Surveillance”) or the Stalinist period in socialist Czechoslovakia (“Larks on the Thread”). However, none of his paintings is devoid of cheerfulness and bright feeling from the incessant despite everything “the feast of being”. And even such an ideologically innocent work as the cheerful and carefree retro farce “Slices”, in the conditions of the domination of the dull and everyday writers of socialist realism, was perceived as a daring challenge or scathing ridicule of the author, allegedly yearning for the lost paradise of bourgeois Czechoslovakia in the era between the two wars.
Like many cultural figures in the countries of the former socialist camp, who lost landmarks in the arts along with the acquisition of the long-awaited freedom, Menzel in the 90’s tweaked the charm of his talent. Although he performed the main role of the confused Polish writer in the French film “The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin” (Le petit apocalypse, 1992) and still a good, albeit not having the former multicolored humorous palette, the film adaptation of “The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin” (The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, 1994, according to Vladimir Voinovich) does not contradict what is understood throughout the world for 30 years as “cine by Irzelashka”, one of the new favorite wave of Menzelashka.
Sergei Kudryavtsev