Prague, August 1917

[Adamwankenobi]

I can only imagine showing it to a first-time YIJC viewer/IJ film fan or YIJC hater. :eek:

I've always seen the episode as a parody of Jones' almost cartoonish determination in situations such as the truck chase in ROTLA. When you watch him get out of such situations, you often don't think of how ridiculous the situation is.

[Flannery10]

Ouch, that would really mess up some people before they have seen great episodes. The first episode I saw was, thank god, Phantom Train of Doom and then Treasure of the Peacock's Eye and I was impressed enough to watch other episodes, without the action aproach, and was quiet impressed. Besides Prague I quiet disliked Paris 1916, but that's not what the thread is about.

[Violet]

Is Prague 1917 now the second half of "Adventures in the Secret Service"? Otherwise I seen it.

[Aaron H]

If I had only seen this episode and nothing before? I wouldn't be here.

[Flannery10]

Is Prague 1917 now the second half of "Adventures in the Secret Service"? Otherwise I seen it.

No, that's Petrograd, a difficult but rather thrilling episode. Prague is now the second half of Espionage Escapades.

[Matinee Idyll]

Besides Prague I quiet disliked Paris 1916, but that's not what the thread is about.

The only thing I dislike about that episode was the fact the actress looked nothing like Mata Hari. Really, nothing.

It was odd though, I taped it when I was 11 or 12 - and it was the only Young Indy episode I refused to show my parents, I was so scared/embarrased by the sex scenes! ;)

[Adamwankenobi]

The only thing I dislike about that episode was the fact the actress looked nothing like Mata Hari. Really, nothing.

It was odd though, I taped it when I was 11 or 12 - and it was the only Young Indy episode I refused to show my parents, I was so scared/embarrased by the sex scenes! ;)

Lately I've been watching the series with my 13-year old cousin. Needless to say, the Mata Hari episode is his favorite. ;)

[metalinvader]

Lately I've been watching the series with my 13-year old cousin. Needless to say, the Mata Hari episode is his favorite. ;)


That's awesome that you are showing the show to a younger audience!So,Besides the obvious reason why he likes the Mata Hari episode (:p ) Does he like the rest of the series?

[Jeremiah Jones]

I dunno, Prague 1917 is like one of my favourite episodes, just my sense of humour I suppose, that and I love Franz Kafka, and I've had a day just like that. Eerily like that actually.... man.. yeah. nightmare

[Flannery10]

I dunno, Prague 1917 is like one of my favourite episodes, just my sense of humour I suppose, that and I love Franz Kafka, and I've had a day just like that. Eerily like that actually.... man.. yeah. nightmare

Oh, yeah it is very funny, no doubt, but in my opinion even for an Indiana Jones adventure a little to silly and farfetched.

[Adamwankenobi]

That's awesome that you are showing the show to a younger audience!So,Besides the obvious reason why he likes the Mata Hari episode (:p ) Does he like the rest of the series?

Yeah, he likes it. I mean, he doesn't love it like I do, but he gets the concept and enjoys seeing what trouble in history Indy'll get himself into next.

Oh, yeah it is very funny, no doubt, but in my opinion even for an Indiana Jones adventure a little to silly and farfetched.

That's how I feel about it as well. I love YIJC and I like Radioland Murders, but not mixed together. :p

[IndySeven]

That episode was so funny! The way that Indy was hanging onto the street pole was sooo funny! This is one of my top 3 favorite YIJC episodes!:up:

[Violet]

The only thing I dislike about that episode was the fact the actress looked nothing like Mata Hari. Really, nothing.

It was odd though, I taped it when I was 11 or 12 - and it was the only Young Indy episode I refused to show my parents, I was so scared/embarrased by the sex scenes! ;)

So in a way it was Young Indy who gave you "that talk"... Well, Lucas did want this TV series to be educational...:p

[Junior Jones]

When I first saw it, I hated the Prague episode. I had no idea who Franz Kafka was, other than having heard his name. But after doing some historical research (as I always did after a new episode) I grew to appreciate the episode a lot more. It's really as if Kafka is telling Indy's story this time.

[Jeremiah Jones]

competely agree with Junior Jones here, thats what I thought... also not that far fetched, once I was trying to get something printed out for college, 70 pages, took 2 days of running around trying to get it printed, but everywhere I went something went wrong, computers stopped working, they wouldn't load the file, ran out of ink, at one point I even sat across from a board of directors in a printing warehouse, trying to argue my print, which they agreed with, marched across this huge factory floor, only in their design shop, the program didnt' run there either. Yes. Incandescent with rage. But in a funny way....

[OhioJones]

Lately I've been watching the series with my 13-year old cousin. Needless to say, the Mata Hari episode is his favorite. ;)

I've never seen the series. Got volume one for Christmas and getting volume two for my birthday coming up. Something I should know about? ;)

[Adamwankenobi]

Something I should know about? ;)

The episode has some brief nudity in the museum scenes, and a brief sex scene between Indy and Mata Hari.

[IndyJr.]

The episode has some brief nudity in the museum scenes, and a brief sex scene between Indy and Mata Hari.

two brief scenes... as well as a stripper scene

[Bullwhip]

Plus that weird scene when Indy is in nothing but leather breeches. Plus the goat.

[Indy Smith]

I remember this story if I recall correctly mainly from him trying to run about and get a phone working. Some of the stories if I can recall were played down to a more younger audience as if it was preaching to kids. Certainly I found the episodes that seemed to be comical episodes were not too funny because it felt like they were being "played up".

There's an old tale that when a man is trying to change a tyre and he is having a bad time doing it that to him the situation isn't funny. Hwever to those watching from a distance it might be funny. However if he realises he's being watched and thinks he can make people laugh he starts playing it up as a gag it then becomes not funny. Comedy is certainly a difficult thing to execute. If you have to play it up don't, beause on second viewings it will feel too played up. Wheras if it's not played up on a second viewing it will be deemed as a serious event.

I think I blabbered a lot there...I wonder if it made sense?

[Stoo]

Not one of my favourites but there is one part I really love. Indy puts oranges
in the pantyhose to make a bola and when he uses it to grab the pole there
are some cool whip sound effects.:whip:

A redeeming quality of this series is the multitude of great characters
sprinkled throughout every episode. "Prague" has some great ones.

One or two shots were reversed/flipped which I noticed because of the
buildings in the background. You can also tell by looking at Indy's hat
and his clothes in one of the scenes near the Charles bridge at his
contact's stand/kiosque. (I think it's when they first meet.)

I went to Prague a few months and it's everything people always say it is.
Absolutely beautiful!

[Indy Smith]

Prague is a city they say you must Czech out! :P

[Adamwankenobi]

Prague is a city they say you must Czech out! :P

That would have been a perfect line for the episode! ;)

[Flannery10]

I'd say, that this episode (Prague, not Paris) could have been fixed, just by some Old Indy bookends, in which he says, that everything was just a dream or they could have come up with some other explanation. But without any explanation at all, it's ridicolous.

[Adamwankenobi]

oops, nevermind

[metalinvader]

I'd say, that this episode (Prague, not Paris) could have been fixed, just by some Old Indy bookends, in which he says, that everything was just a dream or they could have come up with some other explanation. But without any explanation at all, it's ridicolous.

Or a bookend where Indy is telling this story as an April fools joke.:p

[Flannery10]

Certainly a good idea, metallinvader, but it would have made people even unhappier, because then it would have been obvious, that every story was just told by an old man, who probably added one thing or another to make it more interesting or make him look better. Every story was how Old Indy told them and probably not how he experienced them, something I never cared about, but other people did, and that's another reason why the series failed, I guess.

[Crack that whip]

I like Radioland Murders

Oooh, another total Lucasfilm fan, I see! Much as I hate to say so, Radioland Murders is definitely lesser Lucasfilm, for me - though still not enough to have kept me from seeing it in theaters. More than once.

You write fan fiction, right? Perhaps for major fangeek bonus points, try writing some Indy fanfic in which he continues to encounter actual historical figures - and make them Preston Tucker, Yukio Mishima and Wolfman Jack...

[Adamwankenobi]

Oooh, another total Lucasfilm fan, I see! Much as I hate to say so, Radioland Murders is definitely lesser Lucasfilm, for me - though still not enough to have kept me from seeing it in theaters. More than once.

You write fan fiction, right? Perhaps for major fangeek bonus points, try writing some Indy fanfic in which he continues to encounter actual historical figures - and make them Preston Tucker, Yukio Mishima and Wolfman Jack...

LOL! Good idea. At the moment though I'm interested in writing fan fic based on those recently-released YIJC third season synopsi. ;)

[TalonCard]

Prague was pretty crazy, it's true. But then again, so was having Indiana Jones, Elliot Ness, and Ernest Hemmingway involved in a crazy car chase in Mystery of the Blues. There was a better lead-up to it, sure, but when you think about it, that's almost as surreal as anything in Prague. :D

Man, I love this show...

TC

[fommes]

Strange, I actually like this one. It's the Kafka one right? I don't mind the comical bits, I thought it was a nice 'farcical' variation on Kafka.

[tupogirl]

I enjoyed this one immensely:). But I just saw it for the first time this year and I've been a fan since day one. I do like the sillier episodes. Plus this one actually reminded me of movies made during that time period, old Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin ones. And being what a big film lover Lucas seems to be, it makes sense.

***http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxjNOECdxTI This is a clip from The Butcher Boy, Keaton's first film, made in 1917:). ***

[Stoo]

Going to Prague again tomorrow (woo hoo!) so I watched the Young Indy episode tonight to see if I could do anymore location spotting.
Anyway, on the DVD I noticed that when Indy's annoying partner is stuck in the closet his mouth says, "I have to go to the bathroom!"
but the actual dialogue is, "I have to go wee-wee!" (My "Chronicles" version is from Austrian TV so I can't determine if this change was
made for the DVD or if the original version is the same).

I think the point-of-view in the long shots of Indy on the telephone pole don't exist as it is obviously an elaborate composite shot.

[fommes]

Have a nice trip!
But seriously, I hope you don't have to report a telephone theft.

[Kaczor]

Indy and Kafka :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THaivF04yBg

[Moedred]

Prague today (http://www.theonion.com/content/video/pragues_franz_kafka_international), on the Onion...

[Jeremiah Jones]

Met Tim Mcinnerny who played Kafka last Thursday, was gonna be in a film with him but he dropped out at the last moment due to illness. Nice guy though

[Flannery10]

Met Tim Mcinnerny who played Kafka last Thursday, was gonna be in a film with him but he dropped out at the last moment due to illness. Nice guy though

Sounds interesting. What film are you working on and did you guys talk about Young Indy?

[Jeremiah Jones]

Only briefly met him at the read through, then he dropped out. Its called Foxes on the Underground and its a fairly ambitious student film

[Le Saboteur]

*bump*

Just saw this episode again on DVD, and I'm not surprised that there's a lot of ire against it. Of all the episodes so far, this one is probably the hardest to swallow. Even the Barcelona companion piece on Espionage Escapades is still grounded in reality despite the extremely farcical nature.

Prague takes it a step further by stepping out of farce into Theatre of the Absurd. Or, since Kafka is the historical presence, Fiction of the Absurd. Once the viewer has that framework, the episode is rather brilliant -- the absurdity of the situation is heightened by the absurdity of Indy going up against the Austro-Hungarian Empire's bureaucracy. It also manages to capture Kafka's fatalistic tendencies by intimating that the situation is only going to repeat itself in Berlin: a lone man caught up in the bureaucratic whirl of crushingly impersonal forces.

For those of you who are interested in further reading, you should check out Albert Camus, Nikolai Gogol, & Eugene Ionesco. Jean Genet, Tom Stoppard, & Samuel Beckett are excellent examples for anybody who's interested in Theatre of the Absurd.

[phantom train]

"Prague, August 1917" was an entertaining episode - the homage to Franz Kafka novels was great, and though I'm glad most of the YIJC weren't farcical like this, it was nice break from the extreme drama in most of the WWI episodes.

One of the other reasons I really liked this episode was that I had never seen it before the DVD set was released, since it was never broadcast on U.S. network TV when I was first watching the show in the '90's. I was never actually aware of this episode until I discovered the Internet around '95, and read up on the unaired episodes on a very early YIJC fan website. At that time, I figured I would never see the show. So, when I was finally able to see it on DVD I was very pleased.