Dissolved and Discharged

Thanks to its two leading creative lights – Zdeňek Svěrák and Ladislav Smoljak – during the 1980s, Prague’s Divadlo Járy Cimrman theatre group ended up mounting three “Cimrman-esque“ feature films. The faux-biography Jára Cimrman ležící, spící (Jára Cimrman, Lying Asleep, 1983), detective comedy Rozpuštěný a vypuštěný (Dissolved and Discharged, 1984) and the tragicomedy about the goings-on in a small theatre group Nejistá sezóna (Uncertain Season, 1987). Together, these offer the embodiment of the very Czech phenomenon – a fictional genius of all stripes and talents. The film, in which Smoljak serves as co-writer and director, and Svěrák as co-writer, makes use of numerous motifs from the Cimrman theatrical plays, primarily from the detective comedy Vražda v salónním coupé (Murder in a Parlour Car Compartment, 1970) which, like many plays in this group, also features a section with a formal report presenting the life of Jára Cimrman.