1997 VHS • Beautiful Cities of the World: Prague 60 FPS

About

Beautiful Cities of the World: Prague is a travel documentary VHS program running approximately 53 minutes, presenting Prague through a combination of architectural survey, historical narrative, and cultural commentary. The program opens with verses by Czech surrealist poet Vitaslav Nezval describing Prague's mystical character, and proceeds through the city's esoteric, political, architectural, and musical dimensions. The 1997 date is indicated by the tape label.

The documentary covers Prague's medieval and Renaissance layers beginning with the Street of Gold in the castle district, where Franz Kafka lived at number 22 in 1916, and where a house called At the Last Lantern is described in legend as visible only on certain nights. The program traces Charles IV's 14th-century urban plan, which oriented streets along solstice lines following esoteric astronomical principles. The Old Town Square is surveyed in detail, including the Tin Church, the Minute House with its Renaissance graffiti depicting biblical and allegorical scenes, and the town hall's astronomical clock dating to at least 1410, with its hourly procession of apostle figures, allegorical figures representing vanity, greed, and death, and a lower calendar dial illustrating country life by month.

The Hussite reform movement led by Jan Hus, rector of Charles University, is covered, including his execution by burning in 1415 and the large statue that now dominates the square. Nerudova Street leading to the castle is presented with its Baroque house signs, including the three violins at number 12 marking the address of luthier Edlinger, and the Romanian embassy in the Cernan Morzen Palace. The program closes with the founding legend of Prague, in which the prophetess Libuse founds the city after a vision above the Vltava River.

Human-made No record of this work says a model made it. What this means.

Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

The Vista Group®

Language

English

Subtitles

English (automatic)

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed