CZECH POSTERSC'era una volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West)CzechoslovakiaArtist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: R1987
Year of Film: 1968
Origin of Film: United States
In Sergio Leone’s epic western, a railroad baron hires a sadistic mercenary to kill a property owner with prime real estate – only to have the owner’s newly arrived wife inherit the property and begin receiving help from some mysterious strangers with their own motivations to fight. Fresh off his “Dollars” trilogy, Leon’s revisionist efforts culminated with him casting Henry Fonda – beloved by many for his portrayal of the hero in countless westerns – as the blue-eyed assassin and cold-hearted killer of children. Fonda reportedly showed up for filming with a thick mustache and brown contacts to play “the villain,” but Leone told him no – he wanted the audience to gasp! Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
All the President's Men CzechoslovakiaArtist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1980
Year of Film: 1976
Origin of Film: United States
Based on Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s best selling 1974 book of the same name, All the President’s Men follows a pair of Washington Post reporters as they slowly piece together connections between a botched robbery of the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex and, eventually, the Nixon administration. Borderline nauseating in it’s attention to detail and the journalistic process, the film ultimately succeeds by illustrating the necessity of a free press and the dangers of unchecked political power. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
Battaglia di Algeri, La (Battle of Algiers, The)CzechoslovakiaArtist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1968
Year of Film: 1966
Origin of Film: Italy
Shot in documentary style, Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece on revolution and guerrilla war highlights the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to take down an Algerian rebel movement – measures which ultimately provoke a nationwide revolt and the exodus of the French from Algeria. Upon its release in 1968, Roger Ebert wrote, “It is about the Algerian war, but those not interested in Algeria may substitute another war; "The Battle of Algiers" has a universal frame of reference.” In addition to being place-less, Battle of Algiers is also timeless – the film has been used as a training tool by everyone from the Black Panthers in the 1960s to the US government during the war on terror on how to successfully fight, or alternatively defeat, an insurgent movement. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
Alien CzechoslovakiaArtist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1982
Year of Film: 1979
Origin of Film: United States
A perfect marriage of horror and science fiction, Ridley Scott’s Alien documents the deadly encounter between the small crew of the Nostromo on a commercial deep-space mining mission with a viscous and ruthless extraterrestrial – this is no E.T.! Sigourney Weaver shines as the heroine battling both the sinister intentions of her corporate employer and the titular creature, which sprung from the imagination of cyberpunk surrealist painter and sculptor, HR Giger. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
Jaws CzechoslovakiaArtist: Fischerová, Olga (unknown)
Year of Poster: 1976
Year of Film: 1975
Origin of Film: United States
Based on Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel of the same name, Steven Spielberg's Jaws created the mold for both modern Hollywood blockbusters (a young target audience, heaps of marketing and a big opening weekend) and for modern horror films (the less you show of the monster the more suspenseful). The plot – a giant killer shark terrorizes a fictional resort island in the North East – is just one of many aspects including taut direction and an unforgettable score that helped to make Jaws a modern suspense classic. Aside from her designing over 20 Czech film posters, very little is known about the artist, Olga Fisherová.
Pierrot le FouCzechoslovakiaArtist: Hilmar, Jiří (1937-)
Year of Poster: 1967
Year of Film: 1965
Origin of Film: France
Jean-Luc Godard’s sixth film, Pierrot le Fou is a loose adaptation of Lionel White's 1960 pulp thriller Obsession, about a middle-aged married man who has a fling with his sexy babysitter and gets dragged into her seamy world. In Godard’s hands, however, the plot is secondary to his ever-evolving and experimental style that blends musical numbers, bold use of primary colors, and multiple references to literature and the history of cinema and painting. Born in 1937 in Hradec Kralove, in what is now the Czech Republic, Hilmar was a painter, sculptor, and graphic artist who studied at The Secondary School of Applied Art in Prague beginning in 1956. Living in Germany since 1969, Hilmar designed 55 Czech film posters during his lengthy career – all of which were on display in a show dedicated to him at the 15th exhibition of The Golden Era of Czechoslovak Film poster series in Prague earlier this year.
Midnight Cowboy CzechoslovakiaArtist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1973
Year of Film: 1969
Origin of Film: United States
Based on James Leo Herlihy’s novel, Midnight Cowboy is a bleak look at a New York City that once was, told by a pair of two-bit hustlers played to perfection by John Voight and Dustin Hoffman. It perhaps took a British director, John Schlesinger, to hold a mirror up to the underbelly of urban American life, a portrayal that won him a Best Picture Oscar despite the MPAA awarding Midnight Cowboy the newly minted X-rating – the first given to a major studio film. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
PlatoonCzechoslovakiaArtist: Weber, Jan (1946-)
Year of Poster: 1986
Year of Film: 1986
Origin of Film: United States
Director Oliver Stone’s breakthrough film about a brutally realistic grunt’s-eye-view of the Vietnam War won 4 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. Colored by Stone’s own experiences as a Vietnam War veteran, the film omits the patriotism and pro-US propaganda often found in early Vietnam movies, and instead focuses on the moral evolutions of soldiers asked to fight a war against an ill-defined enemy.
Born in 1946, Weber graduated from the Václav Hollar School of Arts in Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic. A freelance artist focusing on graphic design, illustration and poster art between 1972 and 1991, Weber now owns Studio GSW and currently focuses on graphic art and the design of books, CD covers, logotypes and typography.