Accumulator 1

Accumulator 1 (Czech: Akumulátor 1) is a 1994 film directed by Jan Svěrák. The film won the Grand Prize at the 7th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February 1996.[1] It won the audience award at the Tromsø International Film Festival in 1996.[2]

Accumulator 1
Film poster
Directed byJan Svěrák
Produced byPeter Soukup
Written byJan Svěrák
Zdeněk Svěrák
StarringPetr Forman
Edita Brychta
Zdeněk Svěrák
Release date
24 March 1994 (Czech Republic)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryCzech Republic
LanguageCzech, English
BudgetUS$2,000,000

Plot

After a young surveyor, Olda (Petr Forman), watches himself on television, and his colleagues Slezák (Bolek Polívka) steals his love interest Jitka (Tereza Pergnerová), he is suddenly completely without energy and ends up unconscious for three days. In hospital he meets Fišarek (Zdeněk Svěrák), a healer who is visiting his neighbour, Mikulík (Jiří Kodet). After leaving hospital he works on his energy problems with Fišarek, who shows him how to take energy from his surroundings, especially wood. When Mikulík dies, they go to inspect his body. They are interrupted by his daughter Anna (Edita Brychta), who displays antagonism towards Fišarek.

Fišarek continues his tests on Olda, with some other healers. They witness a teacher on television, struggling to express himself, as Olda did. We then witness an alternate universe in which alternate versions of people on television party raucously using energy sucked from their real world counterparts. Back in the real world Olda visits Anna at work and they go for coffee together. Despite meeting a drunken Slezák in the cafe, they click, and Olda drives Anna home. They admit their feelings for each other, and progress to the bedroom to make love. However, Olda accidentally turns the television on, and his energy is again sucked from him, at which point he realises the truth. When he visits Fišarek to tell him, he meets the teacher from the television, who has reached the same conclusion. The teacher heads to the High Tatras to escape televisions, while Olda stays in Prague to be near Anna. The teacher comes into contact with a television even in the High Tatras and appeals to Fišarek for help, who joins him.

The next time he is at Anna's, Olda suggests marriage, but then discovers that she has a daughter. She tells him to meet her at the opera the next day if he wants to keep seeing her. In the meantime he buys several remote controls as protection. Back at his flat he meets Jitka, who complains about Slezák and propositions him. He rejects her and goes to meet Anna at the opera (Nabucco), where he has trouble staying in his seat due to fluctuating energy levels. After the opera they drive back to Anna's, with Olda struggling to avoid televisions on the way. During a power cut that evening, Olda formulates a plan to overcome his condition by flooding the television with energy.

The next day Olda collects as much energy as he can from his surroundings. In the evening Anna and Olda go to her work party, but Olda is preoccupied. Eventually he leaves to carry out his plan. He is interrupted by Slezák, who is looking for Jitka. Olda continues undeterred and on a bridge near his house, uses a stockpile of wood in his flat to overwhelm the television set with energy. When the dust settles his television alter-ego has appeared; they embrace and merge. Slezák, who had broken into Olda's flat by the time of the explosion, is arrested. The next morning Olda phones Anna to apologise and it is presumed that their relationship will proceed normally.

Cast

References
  1. "YUBARI INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL'96". yubarifanta.com. Archived from the original on 2004-04-07. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  2. Tromsø International Film Festival
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