Despite the protests of the fans Czech director Zdeněk Troška (72) decided that he was definitively ending filming. He has been officially retired for ten years and he appreciates this time very much. Although many of his colleagues in the industry still have to turn around at his age, he does not intend to come back from retirement. How is his life? He revealed this to the website.
He does not complain about the amount of the pension, although he thinks he could receive more, but according to his own words he lives modestly and doesn’t need much anymore. However, he adds in one breath that he was ready for retirement. “For me, all I need is bread spread with cheese, add some sliced garlic and you have a perfect breakfast. Eggs of course and then tomatoes. I don’t need a lot of money to live,” he said in 2023.
“If they pushed, I wouldn’t be angry at all. But I have to keep my mouth shut so they don’t take what they gave me too,” he added with a smile, but then criticized the politicians. “Pensioners could be better off, you know, if the government didn’t rob them of the money they deserve. I take this as a scam, they’ve been scraping by all their lives, doing everything they can to save some money for retirement and then someone comes along – and he takes it away from them? That’s obscenity of the highest order, don’t be angry. And it doesn’t matter if there’s one or the other, it’s just not done,” he thinks.
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. Trošk’s last three films were again fairy tales – Scarecrows (2016), Devils (2019) and The Cursed Feather (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 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 award 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.
