Marriage starts out shiny and new but after many years usually has plenty of dents and scrapes. It's best to acknowledge these and to honor the differences that have accrued with time. In this bittersweet comedy from Czechoslovakia directed by Vladimir Michalek from a screenplay by Jiri Hubac, Fanda (Vlastimil Brodsky) and Emilie (Stella Zazvorkova) have been married for 44 years and now live in a small apartment. He is a 77-year-old dreamer who loves going out with his best friend Eda (Stanislav Zindulka) and playing games. For example, in the opening scene, they pretend to be a rich and famous opera conductor and his secretary who are looking for a mansion. After being chauffeured to a luxurious estate and courted by a real estate agent over an expensive meal, Fanda grumbles about the shabbiness of the place. In another prank, the two stand in a Prague subway and pose as ticket-takers. For these elders, the best way to ward off physical debilitation and death is to have a lark each day. Fanda has this fact impressed upon his consciousness when he looks back at his building and sees an old man staring out the window in a stupor. The scene never changes.
Meanwhile, Emilie, who admits to being "a stick in the mud," is trying to make arrangements for their funeral and burial. In addition, she wants to go along with their son's plan to move them into an old-age home so that he and his second wife can take over the apartment. Of course, things go from bad to worse when one of the real estate agents who has been conned by Fanda finds him and demands a repayment for his expenses. Growing increasingly restless, Fanda tries a ruse on Emilie involving his own death. It is the final straw after he has depleted most of their small pension on his madcap adventures. She heads off to divorce court.
The story takes several twists and turns after that, leaving us with the impression that play can rejuvenate a marriage at any stage in the relationship if the partners have plenty of patience and an ability to go with the flow. This film was written for Vlastimil Brodsky who appeared in Closely Watched Trains, Jacob the Liar and other Czech films, and he is wonderful in the lead role. Sadly, the actor committed suicide shortly after Autumn Spring was released.
