Lost in Munich (Czech: Ztraceni v Mnichově) is a 2015 Czech comedy film directed by Petr Zelenka. The movie plot and title are inspired by Lost in La Mancha, a documentary film about Terry Gilliam's unfinished movie.
The narrative revolves a haunted making of the movie Lost in Munich which tells the story about unsuccessful journalist and 90-year-old parrot who used to live with the French prime minister Édouard Daladier and is still repeating Daladier's quotes related to the Munich Agreement. The failed film production (with the feigned French co-production) is the allegory to the alleged French betrayal in 1938.
The film received the Czech Film Critics' Awards for Best Film, Director and Screenplay. It was selected as the Czech entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.
Contents
Cast
Martin Myšička as journalist Pavel Liehm, as himself
Marek Taclík as journalist Jakub, as himself
Jana Plodková as secretary of the French Institute, as herself
Václav Kopta as editor in chief
Václav Neužil as husband of actress Plodková
Tomáš Bambušek as film director Tomáš
Vladimír Škultéty as producent Vladimír
Jiří Rendl as the assistant director Adam
Jitka Schneiderová as Pavel's wife Dana, as herself
Stanislas Pierret as director of French Institute, as actor Gérard Pierret
Marcial Di Fonzo Bo as parrot assistant/assistant director Jean Dupont
Reception
Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
Paying explicit homage to Francois Truffaut's classic behind-the-scenes film-set comedy Day for Night, Zelenka's mischievous mix of farce and tragedy is a much smarter animal than it first appears. Behind its zany premise and sometimes bumpy tone, Lost in Munich eventually emerges as a sardonic commentary on the Czech people's simplistic self-image as eternal victims of more powerful European neighbors. ... Lost in Munich is unlikely to take much business from Judd Apatow in the multiplex laughter league, but it is both entertaining and educational, a largely successful experiment in navel-gazing meta-comedy.