I Served the King of England

Jirí Menzell, Czech Republic, 2006 (8.5*)
Czech Lion, Best Picture
From the director of Closely Watched Trains (1966), this is one of the more unusual comedies you'll ever see (from a novel by Bohumi Hraba). It covers about half a century in the life of a waiter, who starts out small, saves his tips, and gradually works his way up in status and in the class of his employers. It seems that everything this waiter did grew his financial assets; he often pulls out his money and spreads it across the floor, which allows us to track his financial progress.

This entire story is told in flashback from a present when he is moving into an abandoned home near the border in his late middle ages, fifty-something. Because of the length of this story, two actors play the main character, but the funniest is Ivan Barnev, when he was a young man and his life-shaping incidents occur.

For this actor, eventually the world interrupts his private and romantic dreams, and the 2nd world war threatens his stability. Fortunately, his girlfriend has some savvy plans for survival.

This won 8 awards internationally, including four Czech Lions, one for best picture

[This is our film review #667, so we are 2/3 of the way to 1000]