Buttoners (Knoflíkári) (1998)

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This Czech anthology film has six episodes linked by a radio show and a common theme of chance, coincidence, and fate -- opening in 1945 Japan with "Kokura Lucky" (Kokura residents complain about the poor weather, unaware it has just caused the Enola Gay overhead to change targets) and followed by… More This Czech anthology film has six episodes linked by a radio show and a common theme of chance, coincidence, and fate -- opening in 1945 Japan with "Kokura Lucky" (Kokura residents complain about the poor weather, unaware it has just caused the Enola Gay overhead to change targets) and followed by episodes taking place in the present-day Prague: "Taxi Driver" involves adultery in a taxi's back seat. In "Rituals of Civilization" a young couple and a psychiatrist are in a fatal accident. In "The Last Decent Generation" four respectable parents begin planning a wedding for their offspring but end up discussing substitutions for sex such as "buttoning" -- the use of dentures between thighs for the removal of upholstery buttons. "Fools" features a TV news special about sperm in space. In the final episode, "The Ghost of an American Pilot," a schoolgirl seance summons the spirit of the Enola Gay's pilot as a radio talkshow guest, and the psychiatrist from the third episode listens to the pilot's request for forgiveness. With dialogue in Czech, Japanese, and English, this film was a Tiger Award-winner at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi