Gustáv Valach
Acting
Biography
No biography available for Gustáv Valach.
Born: March 16, 1921
Known For
Homeland
The first Slovakian colour film. A celebration of traditional Slovakian folklore and creativity expressed through a story of young love .
Long Live the Republic
Oldrich is the runt of his village, beaten by his father, bullied by the other boys. But he has imagination on his side, and a wiry toughness they can’t defeat. The village is in turmoil, because the Nazi occupiers have just retreated and the Red Army is advancing. Oldrich dodges amid the mayhem and panic, taking his share of blows but always managing to stay one step ahead. Beautifully shot and darkly ironic, Karel Kachyna’s forgotten masterpiece jumbles reality, memory and fantasy to capture the intensity and confusion of childhood in a war zone.
Dragon's Return
This is a ballad about love, hate, and a search for a way out of loneliness. It is a dramatic story about the strange potter, Martin Leaps, nicknamed Dragon, who is suspected by the villagers as the cause of natural disasters. He lost his wife, his home, and his freedom due to false accusations. After years he returns to his native village. Putting his own life to risk, he saves a herd of cows from a forest fire in the hills. But not even this heroic deed helps him to win back the friendship of the locals.
The Nun's Night
A dark fable set in an early 1950s Czech village, a time of Soviet-style socialism which saw the implementation of collectivized agriculture and the mass closure of monasteries and convents.
Lost Children
In the middle of the eighteenth century, at the time of the Prusso-Austrian War, a cuirassier, a hussar and an infantryman meet by chance and hide together in a secluded place. The war has left different marks on each of them, but they all long for normal human happiness. Although they initially have different attitudes towards military service, they are changed by their stay in seclusion and the atmosphere of life in a peasant cottage and refuse to return to the Austrian army. But all three Theresian "misfits" take up arms again, which they no longer want to touch, when the solitude is overrun by the Prussians. They manage to cover the escape of the family and their child, but pay with their lives.
Shadows of a Hot Summer
Ondrej lives on a farm outside a small town with his family. One day a group of men arrive at the family's house and the harmonious life they've led so far changes drastically for the worse.
Behind the Sloe-Bush
Third part of the trilogy. Vaska again is visiting his grandfather living in Bohemian Forest and understands the importance of guarding nature.
On the Poachers Trail
Second part of the trilogy. Vasek is expected to go to Bulgaria for a holiday with his parents during the summer vacation, but the boy finds the prospect of spending the summer with his gamekeeper grandfather far more tempting than the seaside. On the last day of school Vasek picks up his final report, but after that he takes his already packed bag and sets off for the Bohemian Forest without telling his parents. The grandfather is happy to have his grandson at his side again. In the evening, he gets a phone call from Vasek's mother. The trip to Bulgaria has been postponed and Vasek can stay with his grandfather for the time being.
Under the Badgers Rock
The gamekeeper Straka lives by himself in the Bohemian forest hill. He has quarreled with his only son. He cannot come to terms with the fact that his son has abandoned his beloved forests and settled in a town. He has never even met his grandson Vasek. Following an illness, however, little Vasek needs some country air, and so one day his mother Jarmila delivers him to her father-in-law's cottage. At first Straka is angry, but Vasek is an unaffected lad and throws himself with verve into all the little adventures that the forest provides.
První parta
The unfortunate 1930s also befell the student Standa Půlpán. For existential reasons, he had to abandon his studies and entered the mines. However, he only slowly and with difficulty became close to the older miners, rough men who were closed in on themselves. Only his brave stand in rescuing people who were trapped in a mining accident will win him the solidarity of the entire mining collective. Even Karel Čapek's draft once lent itself to promoting an exacerbated class interpretation of social relations.
Filmography
as Narrator
as Hajný Straka
as Hajný Straka
as Narrator (voice)
as Hajný Straka
as Pavel Valchar
as Musician
as Kormidelník
as Simon
as Ambroz
as pacholek
as Samonil
as Painter
as Cuirassier
as Katun
as Stefan Rendko
as Jožo Bujna