Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Czechoslovakia, 1978
Director: Oldrich Lipský
Writers: Jirí Brdecka, Oldrich Lipský
Cast: Michal Docolomanský, Rudolf Hrusínský, Milos Kopecký, Václav Lohniský, Ladislav Pesek, Nada Konvalinková, Kveta Fialová, Martin Ruzek, Olga Schoberová, Zdenek Díte, Karel Effa, Vladimír Hrubý, Petr Brukner, Vladimír Hrabánek, Milan Mach

Release Date: February 11th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 107 Minutes 10 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Czech
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"Nick Carter, America's Greatest Detective (Michal Dočolomanský), called to Prague to investigate the case of a missing dog and instead winding up in the jaws of a giant carnivorous plant controlled by his old nemesis, The Gardener (Miloš Kopecký)." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New restoration from the original camera negative and sound elements by the Národní Film Archive, Prague.

The goal of digital restoration was to make the film available in a form similar to how it could have been seen and heard by an audience at the time when it was first released in 1978. As a result, various features that originate from the shooting of the film or its laboratory processing have been preserved and are evidence of the technologies and creative approaches of the time. We also respected the aspect ratio of the picture, i.e. the one that the film had at the time it was presented.

The source for the digitization were film materials stored in the National Film Archive in Prague. The image was digitized from the original negative and the sound from the sound negative.

The restoration was done by the Hungarian Filmlab in Budapest, under the supervision of the National Film Archive, in 2015."

Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40 GB

Feature: 28.7 GB

The source looks excellent; that said, there are a few instances where cut dots remain. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Czech with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds excellent; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include four animated shorts directed by Jiří Brdečka; Badly Drawn Hen (13 minutes 40 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, LPCM mono Czech with removable English subtitles), Forester’s Song (9 minutes 35 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, LPCM mono Czech with removable English subtitles), The Miner’s Ruse (8 minutes 5 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, LPCM mono Czech with removable English subtitles), and What Did I Not Tell The Prince (9 minutes 33 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, LPCM mono Czech with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with  Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company and Czech film critic and screenwriter Tereza Brdečková, and an insert with URL that has the audio commentary transcribed as text.  

Summary:

Oldrich Lipský directed Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet. He’s also known for Lemonade Joe, Happy End, and The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians.

America’s greatest detective, Nick Carter, goes to Prague for a case involving a missing dog and uncovers something far more sinister.

Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet is a parody of the literary character Nick Carter, a dime novel private detective that was created by Ormond G. Smith and John R. Coryell. Though Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet takes a known literary character, it is not an adaptation of any of the Nick Carter stories. That said, the result is a wholly original adventure for the Nick Carter character.

Most of Oldrich Lipský's other films, like Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet, are rooted in the anti-establishment art movement Dadaism. The humor in Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet is exaggerated, and it perfectly complements the hyperrealism of the story that unfolds. Two notable running gags are the numerous failed attempts by assassins on Nick Carter and a Prague detective who constantly is eating while assisting Nick Carter.

All around, the performances are outstanding, especially Michal Docolomanský’s pitch-perfect portrayal of Nick Carter. His comedic timing is flawless, and his onscreen chemistry with Rudolf Hrusínský, who portrays a food-obsessed detective, provides some of the funniest moments. The main bad-guy, Rupert von Kratzmar, aka master criminal, is also known as The Gardener. Milos Kopecký masterfully portrays Rupert von Kratzmar. Then there is the character of Adela, which is a carnivorous plant that eats Rupert von Kratzmar’s victims whenever it hears the German lullaby Sleep, my little prince, fall asleep.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet and then some. The well-constructed narrative moves briskly from one revelation to the next, and it does a superb job building towards the climax. Another area where Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet is hyper-stylized is its visuals, which do a remarkable job heightening the mood. Ultimately, Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet is an exceptional example of fantastical cinema.

Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet gets an excellent release from Deaf Crocodile that comes with a solid audio/video presentation, four bonus short films, and an insightful audio commentary, highly recommended.

Note: There is a deluxe release of Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet that comes in a slipcase, and a 60-page booklet with an essay by film historian and expert on Central & Eastern European cinema Jonathan Owen, an essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central), and excerpts from the book Jiří Brdečka: Life-Animation-Magic (2015, Limonádový Joe Publishing).

Written by Michael Den Boer