Kolya

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Kolya ★★★ 1996 (PG-13)

Set in the late '80s, just before the Velvet Revolution ended Soviet domination of Czechoslovakia, womanizing Prague cellist Louka (Sverak) agrees to marry (for money) the Russian Klara (Safrankova) who wants Czech papers. She soon clears out to join her lover in Berlin and Louka finds himself saddled with her five-year-old son, Kolya (Chaliman). Grumpy Louka isn't obvious dad material and they don't even speak the same language but the kid (who's adorable without being cloying) manages to worm his way into his new life. Czech with subtitles or dubbed. 105m/C VHS, DVD . CZ Zdenek Sverak, Andrej Chalimon, Libuse Saf-rankova; D: Jan Sverak; W: Zdenek Sverak; C: Vladimir Smutny; M: Ondrej Soukup. Oscars '96: Foreign Film; Golden Globes '97: Foreign Film.