Czech director Zdeněk Troška (71) decided a few years ago that he was finally ending filming and was going to enjoy his retirement. As he has said several times in the past, he lives modestly on his pension and is sufficient with what he receives from the state. He doesn’t waste even during Christmas, which he boycotts, he admitted to the website.
“I’ll just pick out a few things for the grandkids and that’s the end of the shopping spree. We adults buy what we need on an ongoing basis, so we don’t insist on exchanging gifts right on December 24th. I don’t need Christmas at all, and it hasn’t existed as a holiday for me for many years now,” he added.
A successful director doesn’t even have any decorations or a Christmas tree at home, but according to his own words, it doesn’t bother him in any way. “I have been practicing it this way for a long time and I have no problem with it. Jesus is strictly forbidden to enter me. I do a lot of cleaning on an ongoing basis, so this activity is one of my quite common ones, which I do when necessary,” he explained.
Only one thing might make him change his mind about Christmas. “I am definitely a summer person and winter is my enemy. If Christmas was in the summer, maybe I would accept it and probably enjoy it differently, but in December I will always boycott it.” he concluded by saying that he would spend the winter reading books and relaxing.
Zdeněk Troška was born on May 18, 1953 in the South Bohemian village of Hoštice, which he made famous in his films. He completed high school, including his graduation, at the Camot Lyceum in Dijon, France. In 1978, he graduated from the Prague Film and Television Faculty (FAMU), majoring in film and television directing.
Troška’s film debut was the fairy tale film Jak rodí chlap (1979). As an assistant director, he participated in the film directed by Věra Plívová-Šimková Krakonoš and skiers (1980). Next was collaboration with Zdeňko Podskalský on the comedy Křtiny (1981) or on the film Revue na zákadku (1982).
He came to the attention of the audience with a comedy from the environment of the elementary school Bota named Melichar (1983). In the same year, he filmed the first part of the extremely successful comedy trilogy Slunce, seno, jahody (1983). We can also mention the fairy tale About Princess Jasmine and the Flying Cobbler (1987) and the sequel to the comedy Sun, hay and a pair of faces (1989). He completed the trilogy in 1991 with the comedy Sun, Hay, Erotica.
The following years belonged to fairy tales. In 1994, Zdeněk Troška filmed The Princess of the Mill, From the Hell of Happiness (1999), The Princess of the Mill 2 (2000), From the Hell of Luck 2 (2001) and in 2002 it was the film Angel’s Face. The director returned to comedies with another successful trilogy, this time inspired by Czech folk humor and jokes Kameňák 1, 2 and 3 (2003, 2004, 2005).
After a three-year hiatus, the director brought the fairy tale The Most Beautiful Puzzle (2008) to the screen again. This was followed by the comedies Bez předsudků (2009) and Doktor od jazera Hrochů (2010), which was replaced a year later by the fairy tale Čertova věsta (2011).
He filmed the last comedy trilogy between 2013 and 2015 under the name Babovřesky 1, 2 and 3. The comedy was based on the theme of his Slovak fan Luboš Draganovský. So far, Trošk’s last three films were again fairy tales – Strašidla (2016), Devils (2019) and Zakléte pírko (2019).
In addition to filmmaking, the director also worked in the theater. His directing of Verdi’s Don Carlos (Smetana Theater, 1989) and Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Křižík Fountain at the Prague Exhibition Center (1995-1999) met with success. In 1998, his ballet Čertoviny to the music of Petr Malásk premiered at the JK Tyla Theater in Pilsen. The musical Hamlet in Prague’s Kalich Theater was also successful.
He directed Bizet’s Carmen (2004) and Dvořák’s Rusalka (2005) at the Prague State Opera. He studied Dvořák’s Rusalka (2006) and Gounod’s Faust (2007) at the Košice State Theater. In the South Bohemian Theater in České Budějovice, he again directed Weber’s Magician (2009).
He considers the greatest success in his career to have made several films that people love, know by heart and enjoy. “That’s the Oscar or the Czech Lion. No price that is invented by a few people will save it,” he said. Zdeněk Troška is one of the most popular and commercially successful Czech film directors. His films have won many awards and have been sold in more than 30 countries.
