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Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...

1955 · 107 min

A gentle, old-fashioned fairy-tale comedy that ambles along with a moral lesson and a warm, whimsical charm.

Overview
A selfish self-centered widowed ruler, barely tolerated by his subjects and called appropriately enough, 'King Myself, First' asks his three daughters to name the measure of their love for him. When one of them says, "more than salt", he banishes her from the kingdom. Not understanding what she meant the King assumes love can only be measured by precious metals or one's own talent, the 'correct' answers from his other two daughters. The arrogance of the King leads him to gather all the salt in the kingdom and destroy it. Of course, this backfires as he slowly learns the universal value of the substance, and of course, the essence of his daughter's reply. With the help of the wise and magical old 'herb woman', the King also learns what it means to be a true and wise ruler.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
    Pacing
    measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
    Attention
    easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
    Themes
    • family
    • power
    • class
    • identity
    • redemption
    Places
    • fantasy world
    • countryside
    Era
    timeless
    Audience
    family
    Form
    None
    Content intensity
    • Gore none
    • Language none
    • Violence none
    • Sex none
    All scales, 0 to 10
    Scales, 0 to 10
    ScaleValue0 to 10
    Action2
    Horror1
    Humour6
    Realism2
    Romance2
    Tension3
    Darkness2
    Complexity3
    Emotional weight4

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    Where to watch in the UK

    Stream
    • Amazon Prime Video
    Rent or buy
    • Amazon Video

    Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

    Details

    Genres
    family, comedy, fantasy
    Directed by
    Bořivoj Zeman
    Written by
    Jiří Brdečka, Jan Werich, Bořivoj Zeman
    Starring
    Jan Werich, Vlasta Burian, Irena Kačírková, Stella Májová, Milena Dvorská, František Černý, Lubomír Lipský, Miloš Kopecký
    Music
    Václav Trojan
    Cinematography
    Jan Roth
    Runtime
    107 min
    Country
    Czechoslovakia
    Languages
    Czech

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