The Jester's Tale

The smallness of man, the changing of coats (even literal ones), the hard fate of "ordinary" people who will always pay for what those above them do. These are just a few of the themes of The Jester's Tale, a film in which Karel Zeman didn't particularly keep his proverbial imagination in check (no, there really weren't dinosaurs or submarines in the Thirty Years' War), but he also concentrated all the more on everything else. The special effects are there, and one cannot help but marvel at their 45-year-old inventiveness. Animation alternates with sets, miniatures and everything we know and love Zeman for. The music is also good and the actors are great. Petr Kostka really reminds us of Philip's Fan-Fan the Tulip, and Karel Effa also played his villain nicely. In addition to all this, there are beautiful women, František Smolík as the narrator and Vladimír Menšík in a minor but without exaggeration memorable role of the court painter... I don't give it a fifth star only because of the slightly slower pace into which The Jester's Tale falls in the third quarter. (06/19/2010)

The Jester's Tale may not have as prominent a story as Invention for Destruction and is not as artistically elaborate as The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, but I have a closer connection to it because it deals with a period I have always been more interested in, and it does so with the great sense of irony typical of Karel Zeman's work. It presents the Thirty Years' War to viewers with unmistakable irony. The opportunistic nobleman, who changes his lords as easily as the weather vane on his estate turns with the wind, has "Loyalty is my virtue" written on his shield. A mercenary changes his allegiance after his capture simply by changing his coat, and the instruction to a recruit about military spoils, which under no circumstances is considered theft - these and many other scenes have stayed with me and have contributed to my enduring enjoyment of The Jester's Tale. The strong cast, led by Petr Kostka and Miloslav Holub, also contributed to the film's success. Overall impression: 90%. (06/13/2006)