Božidara Turzonovová, a charismatic and elegant actress known for her unforgettable portrayal of Emmy Destinn in the film Divine Emma, has been filming in the Czech Republic again and cannot praise her collaboration with directors Jiří Strach and Jan Hřebejk highly enough.
How would you describe Lajf, the working-title film by Jiří Strach that you shot in the Czech Republic?
It is a drama laced with black humor in which a mismatched group of five people cross paths, each of them wanting to end their life. At an unspecified location, they climb into a battered car and set off on a bizarre joint journey that becomes absurdly complicated. Among them is a young girl, Pepé, who cannot come to terms with her trauma; a successful businessman with terminal cancer; as well as, for example, a raging racist. I play an older woman, Mrs. Bertoldová, who has a very interesting life story. I was born out of wedlock in a chateau where my mother worked as a cleaning lady. I lived through many twists and turns, and when my husband died, I inherited a considerable sum. Even so, life no longer has meaning for me, and I want to donate the money to a good cause. I won’t say more, but the truth is that the film carries bittersweet, darkly comic moments. It captures that strange bitterness of life that we all experience.
Is it true that this shoot brought you back forty years to a completely different film?
Yes. Imagine that the cinematographer was the same man who, during the filming of Divine Emma, had been the assistant cameraman, and our script supervisor was also the same woman, except back then she was a young girl. Our paths crossed again forty years later, and it was an amazing reunion for me. I love good crews that become an unspoken family, and when filming ends, it’s always sad. That is why meeting my “former family” again after so many years meant so much to me. And I have to praise director Jiří Strach. He is a kind young man, and we got along very well.
Božidara Turzonovová's husband Jozef Adamovič in the play Cyrano with Emília Vašáryová.
Emmy Destinn, the celebrated Czech opera singer, remains unforgettable for both our nations. How do you view the message of the film looking back? What resonated with you most about Emmy?
The film was written by screenwriter Zdeněk Mahler as a kind of fantasy inspired by Destinn’s life. I will never forget its phenomenal key moment when actor Jiří Adamíra, playing an Interior Ministry officer, holds my passport – Destinn’s passport – and says that as a world-famous artist I am allowed to travel but must cooperate. I answer, “Colonel, there are certain lines one must never cross.” Another beautiful moment came during filming in Prachatice, when, in the middle of the normalization period, the Czech national anthem was sung in the square and the entire square filled up with people. When the Velvet Revolution came ten years later, I realized I had already experienced that same euphoria during filming. It is true that many things I experienced first on set and only later in my private life.
Another Czech project where you play the central role is Jan Hřebejk’s comedy series The Fall of the House of Koller. How did you enjoy filming it?
I enjoyed the shoot, and director Jan Hřebejk was wonderful. The story is about what can happen – and often does happen – when you bring your aging yet still dominant parents into your home. Poor Vendy has no choice but to move into the house of her domineering father, Robert Koller. And her grandmother, the newly widowed Marta, whom I portray, is a prominent psychologist who also decides to find refuge in her compliant son Robert’s home after her husband’s death. She does not come to adapt to the established household; she makes the household adapt to her. Soon, the whole house is turned upside down. The story, written by Natálie Kocábová, clearly shows the vast divide between today’s younger generation and older people. Young people today live in a completely different world from ours. They are immersed in cyberspace, where they exist and express themselves. That is where they gather information, though unfortunately not always knowledge. Imagine that we even streamed this story as a stage play to the whole world during the COVID lockdown and received a great response.
It seems that through filming you have traveled all over Czechia. Which places are closest to your heart?
I love Prague; both my husband, actor Jozef Adamovič, and I loved it. Our daughters were conceived there. I traveled through the country with the theater and saw many beautiful places – South Bohemia and South Moravia, Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, and the historic town of Prostějov. I fondly remember Brno, where I performed at the old Bolek Polívka Theater. And it’s no coincidence people say that if you want to see world-class Art Nouveau, go to the Czech Republic. My father, an architect, also loved the Czech landscape. The split of Czechoslovakia in 1992 has two sides. It is true that it probably helped Slovakia, but now we are in the European Union as two small states. As Czechoslovakia we would be larger.
With Martin Huba in The Secret of Santa Vittoria (2025).
What are you looking forward to now?
Christmas. I think of my husband and of the time when our children were born. Both arrived in December, so they were the most beautiful Christmas gifts we could have received. At Christmas we do everything possible so the whole family can be together. Our children come with their families, and I enjoy my grandchildren. In our dining room we always extend a large table that can seat fourteen people. We decorate the Christmas tree, which is stored in a box and was made by my husband. Looking back, as a child I struggled with the realization that Baby Jesus was only a fantasy, that he did not exist – and in my heart I still believe in him a little.
What would you like to wish yourself, your family, and our readers for 2026?
You know, for decades I have had an uneasy feeling about war somewhere in the back of my mind. It began when the Twin Towers fell in New York. Until then, New York had been a city with an amazing atmosphere – a place where you could arrive with three dollars in hand and, if you worked hard enough, eventually walk away with three million. But the world is changing, and I feel war coming ever closer. I pray that people find wisdom and that I can free myself from this feeling. That is my greatest wish – peace and love for all people. I wish everyone a peaceful, blessed Christmas and health and peace in 2026.
CV BOX
Božidara Turzonovová (born May 28, 1942, in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a Slovak actress.
From childhood she attended drama classes, performed in a radio ensemble, and studied piano. She graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU) in 1963. While still a student, she received her first film role in The Bridge on the Other Side, in which she acted alongside her future husband, actor Jozef Adamovič.
After graduation she became a member of the Slovak National Theater, where she remains to this day. She is an actress of wide expressive range, quickly noticed by Czech directors. She became widely known to film audiences as the singer Emmy Destinn in Krejčík’s film The Divine Emma. In 1979 she was awarded the title of Merited Artist.
She has appeared in films including A Profitable Position, Hussars, A Story of Love and Honor, The Tricky Games of Love, The Buddenbrooks, Operation Bororo, Devil in an Angel’s Body, The Spring of Life, Prague Through the Eyes of…, Empties and many others.
She began teaching at VŠMU in 1984 and served as dean of the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica from 1999.
She is the honorary director of the Cinematik Piešťany International Film Festival.
She has two daughters, Lucia and Andrea.
Christmas tradition
As Božidara divulged to us, it is a Slovak Christmas tradition to eat thin white wafers with honey and garlic on Christmas Eve, symbolizing a sweet life and good health. “This tradition is widespread across Slovakia, although some families eat only wafers with honey or bread with garlic and honey. Garlic in this combination is considered a symbol of health and protection. In our family we dip the wafers in honey, add a small piece of garlic, and eat them. And we draw a small cross on each other’s forehead to stay healthy.”
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