Product Details

• Actors: Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser, Julia Jentsch, Marián Labuda, Milan Lasica
• Directors: Jirí Menzel
• Writers: Jirí Menzel, Bohumil Hrabal
• Producers: Andrea Metcalfe, Helena Uldrichová, Petr Dvorak, Robert Schaffer, Rudolf Biermann
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Czech
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 17, 2009
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001MVYUPM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,032 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "I Served the King of England" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Ironic Look at Political Upheaval and Human Ambition., February 28, 2009

By 

mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Served the King of England (DVD)

"I Served the King of England" is directed and adapted for the screen by Jiri Menzel, from the novel by Bohumil Hrabal that follows the tumultuous political environment of the mid-20th century in Czechoslovakia through the experiences of an ambitious young waiter. Released after serving 15 years in prison, Jan Dite (Oldrich Kaiser) recalls his life before he lost his freedom as he toils laying gravel for mountain roads. The younger Jan (Ivan Barnev) only ever aspired to one thing: He wanted to be a millionaire, to live the life of luxury and pleasure that his clients enjoyed. He moved from a pub to progressively more luxurious places of employment with increasingly wealthier clientele, finally ending up at Prague's most beautiful hotel, Hotel Paris, an idyll that was interrupted when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia.

Like so many films from Eastern Europe, this one offers a sweeping perspective on the rapid social and political changes that afflicted its country from the 1930s to 1950s, from normalcy through the rise and fall of fascism and on to communism. But instead of characters who are victims of overwhelming political forces, we have Jan Dite, a single-minded, politically indifferent -if not actually oblivious- waiter. Jan wants money, women, and the finer things in life. And he cheerfully pursues them, too simple-minded to care about much else, but observant enough to notice that people all want those things no matter what else changes. His life is a satire of human ambition, comic even when it is tragic, with an ironic view of the devastation and turmoil surrounding World War II as it is seen through the eyes of someone who is just along for the ride.

The DVD (Sony 2009): The film is in Czech with optional English or French subtitles. But when German is spoken in the film, it isn't consistently subtitled. The only bonus feature is a theatrical trailer (2 min).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Fable, April 15, 2009

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thornhillatthemovies.com (Venice, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Served the King of England (DVD)

"I Served the King of England" is a real surprise. In Los Angeles theaters for half a second, I can't imagine this little Czech fable enjoyed a long theatrical run anywhere else. It's a shame. "King of England" is a delightful, fantastical little film directed by Jiri Menzel, the director behind "Closely Watched Trains", winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film in 1966.

The film opens with Jan Dite (Oldrich Kaiser) being released from prison and assigned to work in the forest, along with other cultural subversives. As he goes about refurbishing the run down cabin where he has been assigned to live, he remembers back to his early years, the years when all he wanted was to be a millionaire and own a posh, grand hotel. As we follow Jan (Ivan Barnev), he slowly works his way up from assistant waiter at a bar where intellectuals meet (and a prostitute entices him to her place of business introducing him to the pleasures of the flesh) to a fancy hotel in the country that caters to the whims of very rich men. He works his way up to the most grand and beautiful hotel in Prague. After he becomes the head waiter, World War II breaks out and Jan falls in love with a young German woman. Throughout these moments, the film follows Jan's rise from one job, each more important than the last, and also follows his sexual education from his initial meetings with a prostitute to his various affairs with different women.

I know, it sounds pretty pedestrian, like a million other films you have seen. Which is maybe the reason I didn't rush to the theaters to see it during it's theatrical release. But I was wrong. Very wrong. "I Served the King of England" is designed to look like a living fairy tale, even when World War II enters the film. Every scene has a slightly fantastical element or feel. But unlike "The Boy In The Striped Pajamas", the darker elements fit into this story smoothly, like the darker, scarier bits of a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Jan literally floats his way through situations, always observing, trying to learn something that might help him later. Because he seldom speaks, Jan's antics could be modeled on Chaplin's.

When the Communists release him from prison, he moves to the country and meets another couple who are also outcasts and serving time in odd jobs. The couple, an older man and a younger woman (who Jan quickly determines was imprisoned because she is a nymphomaniac) are looking for trees to make into musical instruments. Jan and the couple become friends and Jan begins to lust after the younger woman. She realizes this and begins tormenting him, teasing him with flirtatious looks. But both are so good-natured about it, they both suspect nothing will ever happen and are just having fun with the process.

"I Served the King of England" is a rare find. Amusing, fun to watch, beautiful to look at, and fable like while maintaining a definite sense of a time and place. It is an enjoyable treat that deserves a bigger audience. Go rent it. Now.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slapstick, Swastikas, and Sex, December 26, 2009

By 

Aaron Gutsell (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Served the King of England (DVD)

Here's a stunning Czech sleeper loaded with so many aspects that it may take several viewings to pick up the details crammed into every shot. 'I Served the King of England' opens as a light, whimsical comedy featuring the antics of a diminutive and ambitious young waiter who wants nothing more than to make money. Ivan Barnev's peformance in the lead role is akin to Roberto Benigni's in 'Life is Beautiful,' the wonderful physicality of his humor and pratfalls, facial expressions, and comedic timing make for hilarious and touching viewing. The story is told back and forth from the perspective of an older, wiser Dite (played by Oldrich Kaiser) who is jailed by communists for the crime of being a millionaire, serving one year for each of the millions he made. The path Dite took to earn those millions is as surreal as European history itself, a history hijacked by a little Austrian corporal and a Georgian street thug. That surreal history slowly seeps into the film as Dite stumbles into a Nazi eugenics program, or his wife fervently stares at a portrait of Hitler as he makes love to her (and the wife herself briefly transmogrifies into the aforementioned diktator.)
The countryformerlyknownas Czechoslovakia is dismembered by German manuevers, British flipflopping before Churchill, and is finally devoured by that insatiable swatiska beast, yet Dite blithely continues onward, adopting a certain part to his hair, and growing a small square moustache. He collects all of the mirrors discarded by a local village, because the people believe that when they look into them, the Germans come. Sure enough, the mirror over Dite's marital bed begins to catch reflections of herr Hitler. Later in the film Dite sits before a dozen mirrors and literally reflects on his life, and each individual mirror holds its own tale of a younger Dite.
Every aspect of 'King of England' is that of a mature and accomplished filmmaker who won his first Academy back in 1966. There has been some criticism of the casual portrayal of prostitution in the film, but these are opinions made through an American filter. Many Eastern European countries had to make do with the bare necessities provided by the Germans and Russians for decades, so that sex as a trade for dinner became a sensible transaction.
If you are the type of person who idealizes foreign films, and finds them more complicated and subtle, the humor darker and sweeter, then 'I Served the King of England' will go right into your pantheon alongside 'Europa Europa', 'Life is Beautiful', or 'The Time of the Gypsies.'
There have been some complaints about the subtitles, but due to the playful nature of the film, I'm not sure that this wasn't deliberate. A character, such as Dite's wife, will speak for several seconds in German without translation, but his response to her, or the situation itself, or even occasional pauses in subtitling ensure that everything is eventually told. It may be that a modicum of thought by the viewer is required, and that puts some people off, and yes, you will even have to turn off your CellBerry and pay achtung!