The Last Aristocrat (Poslední aristokratka)

ABOUT THE FILM

Thanks to his noble ancestors, native New Yorker Frank (Hynek Čermák) is given his old family seat – the Kostka Chateau. So the descendent of emigrants prepares to return after more than 40 years to Bohemia with his daughter Marie (Yvona Stolařová) and temperamental wife Vivien (Tatiana Dyková). The newly minted aristocrats are ignorant of local conditions and untouched by Czech customs. They know their former homeland and chateau life only from the ancient stories of their relatives. All matters connected to restitution are managed for them by their legal representative Benda (Vojtěch Kotek). Upon arrival, they realize that the chateau is in a state of gradual decay and set apart from all social life. The only permanent residents of Kostka are the reactionary warden Josef (Martin Pechlát), the good-humoured housekeeper Ms Tichá (Eliška Balzerová), and the hypochondriac handyman Krása (Pavel Liška). While the Kostka staff slowly wakes up from their feeble sleep of the post-revolutionary 1990s, the Kostka family faces a tough choice: sell the seat built over generations and return to America or try to save the Kostka Chateau. The film is based on a book of the same name by Evžen Boček.

• live action feature film
• Czech Republic, Slovak Republic / 2019
• filmed on location in the SMR: Milotice, Rájec nad Svitavou, and Jaroslavice chateaus
• photos courtesy of: Evolution Films
• screenplay and direction: Jiří Vejdělek
• starring: Hynek Čermák, Tatiana Dyková, Yvona Stolařová, Eliška Balzerová, Martin Pechlát, Vojtěch Kotek, Pavel Liška, Zdeněk Piškula, Tatiana Pauhofová, Zdenka Procházková, Petr Nárožný, Dana Syslová and others …

FILMING LOCATIONS

Milotice Chateau (Zámek Milotice)

The home chateau of Evžen Boček, warden and author of the book the film was based on, is a uniquely preserved complex of baroque buildings and landscape architecture. The chateau exhibition offers a glimpse into the lifestyle and habits of the last owners from the Seilern und Aspang family.

The last private owners of the Milotice Chateau were the Seilern family, who had their property confiscated based on the Beneš decrees. The chateau was opened to the public in 1948. The interior was renovated around the mid 1960s. In 1974, the new exhibition was ready and offered visitors a stylized tour accentuating the Baroque era, which was when Milotice had its social peak.

In 2005, the interior of the Milotice Chateau underwent changes intended to return the building’s social spaces to the form they had in the first half of the 20th century, when it was inhabited by the Seilern und Aspang family. A tour of the interior is now a look at ordinary life at the chateau under its last private owners.

Rájec nad Svitavou Chateau (Zámek Rájec nad Svitavou)

This French-style classicist chateau was built for members of the Salm noble family during 1763–1769 based on plans by French architect Isidor Amand Canavel. Its interior excels in its rich furnishings, especially the extensive collection of oriental porcelain and art and a collection of Mannerist crystal cups.

The state Rájec nad Svitavou Chateau is a national cultural monument that sits on a hill right near the Rájec–Jestřebí conurbation and gets its name from the originally independent municipality of Rájce nad Svitavou. It’s one of the jewels of Moravia and an eloquent and exceptional example of country seats from the late 1700s. It is owned by the state (maintained by the National Heritage Institute) and open to the public.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT FILMING

The author Evžen Boček is the longest-serving warden of the 20th century, having worked at the Milotice Chateau for over 27 years. Filming took place in the chateau kitchen, which the warden has kept in the style it had for the film. They also filmed in the fresco hall, the library, the billiard room, and the courtyard. The film-makers had to capture the exterior of the Kostka Chateau elsewhere. They needed a snow-covered landscape and devastated facade, neither of which was offered by Milotice, with its beautifully repaired facade and location in sunny South Moravia.