The Black Barons (Černí baroni in Czech) is a 1992 Czechoslovak comedy film by Zdeněk Sirový, starring Pavel Landovský, Ondřej Vetchý, Miroslav Donutil and others.
It takes place in 1950s Communist Czechoslovakia and portrays the mandatory military service of members of a Technical auxiliary battalion (a weaponless unit of the Czechoslovak military composed of class enemies of the regime), and the daily struggles of the privates with their mean and incompetent officers.
It is a film version of a 1969 book of the same name by Miloslav Švandrlík.
A control question, comrades. What tropes can we find in this work?
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Senior Lieutenant Mazurek gets utterly drunk one evening, pawning his pistol to the innkeeper. He forgets doing so by the time he gets sober, thinks the privates stole the gun and makes a big fuss out of the thing, searching their barracks frantically and threatening the privates with an investigation by counterintelligence officers. When the innkeeper visits the barracks with the gun to demand his payment, Mazurek ends up so humiliated he shoots himself out of shame moments later.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: When Lieutenant Hamáček informs the group that he ended up getting Reassigned to Antarctica, the privates proceed to celebrate, popping a bottle of champagne.
- Backing Away Slowly: One of the times the General says he wants to throw up, Terazky takes a step away from the General in response.
- Bar Brawl: One happens halfway through the film between regular soldiers and the technical auxiliary batallion after Voňavka insults one soldier's girlfriend when she refuses his dance request.
- Berserk Button: Dr. Hořec is mentioned to send every patient who calls him "comrade" back to his unit immediately.
- Brick Joke: When Terazky notices a mural of Jan Žižka being painted with a mace, he demands it changed to a light machine gun, and brushes off a point that there were no light machine guns in 15th Century. Later on in the film, the General notices the mural of Jan Žižka with the light machine gun, and orders the machine gun repainted, saying that every idiot knows that there were no machine guns in 15th Century.
- Bungled Suicide: One of the privates tries to hang himself after his girlfriend dumps him via a letter. The branch of the tree he wants to hang himself on snaps, alerting Kefalín and allowing him to talk the guy out of suicidial thoughts.
- Butt-Monkey: Jasánek, the genuine Communist of the privates, ends up in a bunch of humiliating situations throughout the film.
- Calling Your Nausea: The inspecting General says a few times that he wants to throw up when seeing the massive incompetence rampant in the batallion. When Major Haluška offers the disgusted General pork sausages, he throws up for real.
- Commieland: The film is set in 1950s Czechoslovakia, the times of the harshest Communist reign in the country. The opening news montage very quickly establishes the atmosphere.
- Death Glare: The General throws a few great ones during his inspection when he uncovers the general dismay within the battalion and the incompetence of the officers. One of the death glares manages to get private Laco to faint.
- Destination Defenestration: During the Bar Brawl, one guy ends up getting thrown out of the window, through which some of the privates proceed to escape the MP.
- Double Standard: When common private Nalezenec asks Hamáček for a Christmas leave, Hamáček rebuffs him. When private Šternberk, who is of aristocratic origin, asks for a Christmas leave as well, he not only ends up getting the leave, but Hamáček grants him a much longer leave than Šternberk initially asked for.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Halík, to the degree it ends up irritating not only the privates, but Lieutenant Hamáček as well because his training causes the privates' productivity to drop.
- Drinking on Duty:
- After Hamáček scolds him due to his training lowering the productivity, Halík gets absolutely smashed in the local pub. The privates use that, planting the drunk Halík in front of Hamáček's office, getting him fired for the drinking.
- The privates, when they celebrate Hamáček getting Reassigned to Antarctica.
- Driven to Suicide: Senior Lieutenant Mazurek shoots himself after the complete humiliation he suffers in front of the entire unit.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Private Halík, after Hamáček scolds him that his night trainings of the privates will cost the officers bonuses due to the low productivity of the unit, goes to the pub and gets completely drunk in frustration.
- A Glass in the Hand: While examining the officers from Marxism and history, the General is holding a pencil. When Troník spectacularly botches his answer to the question about the beginning of the beginning of the October Revoultion, the general snaps the pencil in half.
- Gratuitous English: The privates sing It's a Long Way to Tipperary in English on the eve they buy alcohol from the innkeeper.
- Humiliation Conga: The General's inspection is a huge one for the officers as it exposes them as absolutely incompetent morons and idiots.
- Inane Blabbering: Major Haluška descends into this when giving a report to the General on his surprise inspection, first mistakenly calling him comrade minister, then Herr, then noble sir and then switching to Russian before apologising for being confused and finally resuming to giving the proper report in normal Slovak.
- Insane Troll Logic: Terazky's justification for Jan Žižka to be drawn with a light machine gun which did not exist in 15th Century is that he was not a Major in 15th Century either but is one today.
- In-Series Nickname: Major Haluška is called Terazky (meaning "now") due to his love of using that word. Even the closing credits call him "Major Haluška-Terazky".
- Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: Senior Lieutenant Mazurek does one to himself before his suicide after he gets humiliated in front of the entire unit with the pistol debacle.
- Interservice Rivalry: The regular army and the technical auxiliary batallion hate each other and they end quickly end up brawling when they both meet in the same pub.
- Killed Offscreen: While Mazurek is seen loading his gun after making a complete clown of himself, we don't see his suicide, only hear a gunshot from outside.
- Lean and Mean: Lieutenant Hamáček is a thin and tall officer with a very low view of the soldiers he is commanding.
- Literal Ass-Kicking: Lieutenant Troník is given a kick in the ass while he reprimands the privates for Drinking on Duty. He rushes to tell Senior Lieutenant Mazurek and demands exemplary punishment. Senior Lieutenant Mazurek does not particularly care and only resolves the situation after Troník (who holds a lower rank) orders him to resolve it. Major Haluška is very unimpressed by the incident when it gets to him.
- The Neidermeyer: While none of the officers have high opinion of the privates, Lieutenant Hamáček stands out at treating them like disposable dirt. When Jasánek injures himself while working at the quarry, he refuses him getting medical aid and instead orders him to wash himself and resume working. When Kefalín says that they were concerned about a human's life, Hamáček rebuffs him saying that there's too many people on Earth anyway. It's no wonder the privates celebrate when the Lieutenant ends up Reassigned to Antarctica.
- Noodle Incident: Kefalín's reason for being forced to serve in the technical auxiliary batallion is some unspecified past trouble he had with one national artist.
- Not That Kind of Doctor: Dr. Macháček is assigned to take care of pigs, because Captain Ořech assumes he's a veterinarian. It later turns out he has a doctorate in law and has no idea how to take care of pigs.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When Terazky sees the General arriving at the barracks, he nearly faints and crosses himself. The subsequent Humiliation Conga of an inspection the offficers suffer make that a very justified reaction.
- Mazurek has a moment of this when he realises his gun is missing.
- Only in It for the Money: Lieutenant Hamáček is less concerned about the Communist ideology and more concerned about the money he makes when sending his unit to work as cheap labour at a quarry. When Halík's training causes the unit's productivity to drop, Hamáček scolds him that the trainings are threatening the bonuses he'd make.
- Pain to the Ass: After Jasánek tries to talk his way out of getting an injection, excusing himself as having weak breasts, the doctors react by having the injection applied to Jasánek's butt.
- The Political Officer: The unit has two of them - Captain Ořech and Lieutenant Troník. Both of them are complete idiots who turn out to not even know basic Marxist realia when examined by the inspecting General.
- Reassigned to Antarctica:
- Lieutenant Hamáček's fate after the General's inspection.
- Terazky threatens Lieutenant Troník and Senior Lieutenant Mazurek with the same when reprimanding them over the mess in the barracks.
- Repeated for Emphasis: Done by Lieutenant Hamáček during his scolding of Halík.Hamáček: "Man, understand that if they fall on their faces the next day after your training, that the fulfillment of the plan will get what? IT'LL GET FUCKED! And as you surely know, we'll get what bonuses according to the fulfillment of the plan? Fucking lower. Lower! LOWER!"
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: When Terazky asks peeing Macháček what is he doing, he discloses his medical diagnosis, full of complicated and Latin terms of which the Major does not understand a word.
- Sex at Work: Jasánek is talked into having one at the quarry, but he ends up not having it due to him and the girl falling through the walls of the wooden shack they're hiding in when the girl stumbles while unbuttoning his shirt.
- Speech Impediment: Lieutenant Troník speaks with a very pronounced lisp.
- Terse Talker: Captain Ořech, though in his example, it's not through him using fewer words than others, but through his thick Ostravian accent having him only speak with short syllables.
- Verbal Backspace: Major Haluška mentions to Kefalín that during World War II, he was fighting the Bolsheviks - only to quickly realise what he said and correct himself to say that he was fighting the Fascists.
- Verbal Tic: most of the officers have one.
- Major Haluška loves talking about how something was once some way but now it's different with the use of the word "terazky", meaning "now".
- Lieutenant Hamáček keeps including questions in his speech which he immediately answers himself.
- Lieutenant Troník keeps giving everyone so called control questions.
- Senior Lieutenant Mazurek keeps repeatedly saying that "order is the most important thing".
