Pavel Juracek - Postava k podpirani (1963)

A short movie by Czech New Wave director and screenwriter Pavel Juracek. In this series of Kafkaesque situations related to the period of the “personality cult,” the hero borrows a cat from a cat-hire service but can find neither the clerk nor the service when he tries to return it.







The story is about Harold, an isolated figure in an overwhelming world of totalitarian bureaucracy. Harold tries to find the elusive Joseph Kilian, an old acquaintance, in Prague. When Harold stumbles across a state-run cat-lending store, he impulsively rents a feline for the day. Later, he attempts to return the cat and finds that the store no longer exists. Now with a furry companion, Harold continues his search for Kilian. Written and directed by Pavel Juracek, this 40 minute film effectively aims its allegorical shots at personality cults and the absurdities of a totalitarian regime. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide





This film is just excellent. I never thought that this would be such a great one, since it was the first chech film I saw. I just went to see it because I was told that this was very influenced by Kafka's work. And I was truly surprised. This is by far the best representation of Kafka's ideas in motion pictures. Far better than Orson Wells' "Le Próces" or any other movies like that.~ IMDb