Not only was Oscar-winning director Jiří Menzel on best behavior for visiting journalists May 12, but several members of the cast of his mini-epic, I Served the King of England, were literally lying around, making themselves available for interviews.

The legendary director of Closely Watched Trains, which won Best Foreign Film in 1967 — and also helped land Menzel in hot water with the communist authorities of the day for its thinly veiled satires of pompous officialdom — is expected to finish shooting his new film, inspired by Bohumil Hrabal's novel, in late June. Production has been remarkably swift and efficient, considering the project was 10 years in the making by some estimates.

All was peaceful, however, on the grounds of a chateau in Slapy, where actors and crew were between shots. Sitting on the grass in 1920s finery, surrounded by antique Laurin & Klement cars and Škoda roadsters, were veteran Czech and Slovak stars such as Marián Labuda and Rudolf Hrušinský. Among them was a new discovery, Ivan Barnev, a Bulgarian actor who won over Menzel with his theater work.

Barnev described the notoriously temperamental Menzel as not such a terror to work with after all. Perhaps it was the fine May weather in Slapy — then again, perhaps the auteur is enjoying being back in the saddle after 12 years of keeping audiences awaiting his next work. ("I didn't find any scripts I was interesting in shooting," Menzel said.)

Prague's tourists sometimes miss out on these goings-on, it seems.