Prague Photos


Just as I was thinking that Prague would be a great place to film a movie and trying to think of movies that were set there (Mission Impossible was the only one I could come up with, but I'm sure there are others), I ran into a movie being filmed. I was trying to go through one of the narrow cobblestone streets that fill the Old Town area and a man stepped out in front of me and said "closed" in a thick accent. Above me, what otherwise looked like some sort of construction machine, held a bright light and to my right was a professional movie camera and a director standing next to it. A street sweeper started up and kicked dust into the air. Apparently the scene was a non-speaking one as several actors started walking down the street in two groups going in opposite directions. I didn't recognize anyone. After the scene was over, I was allowed to pass through the set.

Later that night, I was out in the city when a thunderstorm moved in and it began to pour. The streets were rivers and the sky was ablaze, thunder so intense it sounded like the city was being bombed. I had some stuff in my bag that I didn't want getting wet, so I waited out the storm on a sheltered sidewalk and witnessed some spectacular cloud-to-cloud lightning, the perfect backdrop to the Gothic architecture of the city. Twenty minutes later, the imposing booms had been reduced to distance rumbles and only weak sprinkles remained.

I met a young Persian who said that he had protested after the Iran elections two years ago and that some of his friends had been shot and killed there. I was fascinated and asked him many questions, but it was tough to get straight answers out of him. He said that he had protested because the government had rigged the election, but when I asked if the real problem was really the fact that the candidates had to be approved by Guardian Council, therefore resulting in sham elections even if the votes were counted correctly. He never really answered that satisfactorily. When I asked him what type of government he wanted Iran to have, he said that a return to how it was under the Shah would be ideal and that the Iranian people had liked the Shah, which I don't believe is correct since it was a popular revolution that forced the Shah out of power 30 years ago. I asked him why he had stopped protesting and he said that the leaders of the movement had detected infighting among those currently in power and sent the message to the followers of the movement to stop and wait because the government may self-destruct on its own in the coming years. I certainly hope so.