In August 1974 Zdeněk Svěrák and Ladislav Smoljak established themselves as screenwriters with the timeless tragicomedy Jáchyme, hoď ho do stroje! (Joachim, Put Him into the Machine!). They later worked with directory Oldřich Lipský on the student comedy „Marečku, podejte mi pero!“ (“Mareček, Please Pass Me a Pen!”). With the help of the writing duo, from 1976 associated with the Jára Cimrman Theatre, Lipský, then 50, found a way to come to terms creditably with the realities of the normalisation period. The king of Czech cinema parody after the escapist Slaměný klobouk (Straw Hat) (1971), children’s comedy 6 medvědů s Cibulkou (Six Bears and Cibulka) (1972) and agrarian agitprop Tři chlapi na cestách (Three Men Travelling) (1973), he shot his very first distinctively “casual” comedy bereft of fantasy elements. The story of timid young tractor driver František Koudelka, who moves from the country to Prague, revolves around a normalisation-era fad – the “conditiogram”. The makers succeeded in going beyond the standards of the period and created an “existential” comedy about man being the master of his own destiny. The shy, indecisive František organises his life completely on the basis of computer-generated plans specifying “happy” and “crisis” days for all activities. While on bad days the goodhearted naïf becomes a passive victim of his usual ineptness and misfortune, on “good days” he impresses the girl of his dreams, the sales assistant Blanka (Marta Vančurová), triumphs over an arrogant barman and wins a judo bout and motor race. Jam-packed with ideas, the picture is a Czech comedic gem, thanks to numerous charming scenes, enduring dialogue and above all perfect casting. Luděk Sobota, then a 29-year-old theatre actor, particularly stands out in his first sizable film part. The titular computer technician Jáchym is played by Petr Brukner in a cameo that lasts mere seconds.
A sincere provincial young man, František Koudelka leaves to work in Prague. For the trip he buys a computer made horoscope with biorhythms charts, marked according to his date of birth, there are trappy, precarious, unsuccessful and even critical days and few successful days. The clumsy luckless person František has finally a guidance for his life. In Prague he takes up work in a car repair service and he stays with his widowed aunt Mrs Sýkorová who definitely prefers her beloved dog Gregor. The company psychologist warns František. The car mechanics get big bribes from customers and it happens often that this flow of money makes many of them crazy. In a snack-bar, at the toast department works Blanka, the girl of his dreams. Despite his shyness he starts dating her after all. Barman Karel from the snack-bar is not happy to see that and he insults his competitor in love. The young man joins a judo club. He plans a revenge on Karel on the twenty-seventh - the nearest successful day. He goes to cinema repeatedly and he trains the punches according to the sheriff from the film. On the twenty-seventh František wins unexpectedly a judo match and a car race. He is forced to open an exhibition dressed up in the judo kimono. Full of energy he calls attention of the company psychologist. He calls attendants from a psychiatrist clinic. But they catch somebody else. In the end they save František from the revengeful Karel. After years František and Blanka live with their children in the countryside. An apology from the company which used to send him for years wrong horoscopes with biorhythms comes too late. František is happy and everything goes well. Just the new car which the company sent as a compensation went down to the nearest pond.
automechanik František Koudelka
prodavačka Blanka
tetička Marie Sýkorová
automechanik Béda Hudeček
vedoucí servisu Karfík
podnikový psycholog Klásek
psychiatr docent Chocholoušek
výčepní Karel
Voice by Jaroslava Adamová
majitelka renaulta Nevyjelová
zřízenec na psychiatrii Arnošt Holna
zřízenec na psychiatrii Arnošt Malota
vyvolávač
vrátný v servisu Prouza
závodník Stanislav Volejník
Františkova maminka
vrátný v tělocvičně
uklízeč Karlík Šimák
vedoucí judistického oddílu Tumpach
japonský malíř Uko Ješita
ředitel podniku Katoda Olomouc
mechanik Toník
mechanik
mechanik
mechanik
mechanik
mechanik Maňas
mechanik Růžička
mechanik
mechanik
předseda autoklubu
ředitel výpočetního střediska
vedoucí traktorové stanice Pechar
biletář
nový zaměstnanec Šofr
tajemník oddílu judo Otík
Voice by Vladimír Pospíšil
šerif ve filmu
Voice by Miroslav Saic
Mack ve filmu
pořadatel na startu závodu
hlasatel na utkání juda
hlasatel na výstavě psů
zahajovatel výstavy japonských miniatur
předseda výstavního výboru
výčepní v Koruně
skladník Maršálek
vítěz výstavy psů Janda
dědek z pohádky
čarodějnice z pohádky
chodec na silnici
dívka v kimonu
sestra na psychiatrii
traktorista Josef
prodavač v samoobsluze
adept juda Janeček
hlasatel na závodech automobilů
pán
dveřník na Konopišti
dáma
manžel dámy
elegantní dáma
elegantní dáma
elegantní dáma
snaživý mechanik
manipulátor Jáchym
slečna pokladní v servisu
adept s pochroumanou rukou
pokladní kina
tlumočník do japonštiny
Voice by Eva Svobodová
sousedka Nevyjelové
uvaděčka Mrázková
judista
judista/rozhodčí judistických závodů
judista
judista
rváč v restauraci
rváč v restauraci
dubl za Petra Hájka
dubl za Petra Nárožného
boxer Gregor
hlas stařečka s kosou
hlas vypravěče pohádky v televizi
Jiří Býček
Ladislav Winkelhöfer, Antonín Chloupek, Vladimír Ježek, Krištof Žižka
Jaroslava Semrádová
Kateřina Koňasová (klapka), Jan Kuděla (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Song Composer Zdeněk Liška
Singer mužský hlas
Jáchyme, hoď ho do stroje!
Jáchyme, hoď ho do stroje!
Joachim, Put Him into the Machine!
Vysoká fáze
film
featuretheatrical distribution
comedy
Czechoslovakia
1974
1973—1974
literary Screenplay approved 16 July 1973
start of filming 24 July 1973
technical Screenplay approved 4 September 1973
end of filming 20 March 1974
projection approval 26 March 1974
withdrawal from distribution 28 February 1983
withdrawal from distribution 31 May 1993
preview 27 June 1974 (kino Blaník, Praha)
premiere 30 August 1974 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 2 September 1974 /suitable for youths/ (kino Blaník, Praha)
renewed premiere 1 October 1984 /suitable for youths/
renewed premiere 26 August 2021 /suitable for all ages without limit/
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1974 a obnovená 1984), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2021)
Dramaturgická skupina Karla Copa, Karel Cop (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)
feature film
98 min
2 674 meters
16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, BRD
1:1,66
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech, Japanese
without subtitles
Czech
Event: Múzy pražských diváků
1975
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Oldřich Lipský
Exhibition: 3. mezinárodní přehlídka humoristických filmů La Coruña
1975
La Caruña / Spain
Festival: 13. festival českých a slovenských filmů Praha
1975
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Oldřich Lipský
Event: Múzy pražských diváků
1975
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Marta Vančurová
Event: Prémie Českého literárního fondu za rok 1974
1975
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jaroslav Kučera
Exhibition: Přehlídka českých a slovenských filmů 74 Sorrento
1974
Sorrento / Italy
Oldřich Lipský