Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself w — Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea(Bl

The wonderfully entitled Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea is a late 70’s Czechoslovakia sci-fi film, which is both charmingly amusing & quirkily inventive. It’s a time-travelling caper based in the near future where a group of neo-Nazi hijack a rocket to return to 1944. Where they plan to deliver a hydrogen bomb to Hitler, making sure he wins WWII and conquers the world- but their devious plot is thrown off by something as simple as a stale bread roll. Here from Second Run, who has released a fair amount of Czech film, is a new Blu Ray release of this lesser-seen & rather distinctive slice of 1970’s Sci-fi. With the release taking in a new HD scan, a new commentary track, and a glossy inlay booklet.

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (Zítra vstanu a oparím se cajem) appeared in 1977. And it was the 10th film directed by Prague based writer/ director/ assistant director Jindrich Polák- whose filmography went from the western/comedy cross of 1959’s Death in the Saddle. Onto  straight sci-fi with 1963’s Icarus XB 1, through to euro-noir with 1967’s A Game Without Rules,  onto grim & nasty crime thriller of 1979’s Death Of Hitch-hikers. So a very versatile film-maker,who in total had thirty-one directorial credits to his name. Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea is certainly a well-made & often playful film, that nicely balances it’s Sci-fi and comedy elements well- making for an enjoyable-yet-thought provoking film.

The film's plot focuses in on twin brothers Jan & Karel Bures(Petr Kostka)- Jan is a rocket designer living out a rather drab & boring life, and Karel flies the rockets- which are used to travelling to different destinations in time, oh and he’s also in cohorts with a  group of neo-Nazi, who want to go back to 1944 to give Hitler a stolen hydrogen bomb. One morning Jan makes breakfast for his brother- and Karel starts choking on a stale bread roll- Jan rushes to get a doctor, but when they arrive back Karel is dead. Jan bored with his rather stayed life, decides to pretend to be his brother- and as he course built the rocket he knows them inside & out. From here we go on a wonderfully wacky time travel romp- which features a trip back to meet the Fuhrer, puzzled elderly time tourists, blossoming romance, and a wonderfully shifting & darting plot.

The sci-fi concepts/ ideas behind the film are rather neat- as we get an airport like set-up where folks are travelling back into different points in history, a spray that freezes people blue for a while, and clever use of the whole time travel tropes. The film is well-acted, with the cast managing both humour & drama well- Petr Kostka is good in his duel role. The film features a memorable score that brings together both disco & grooving Hammond organ cues- though it is a little repetitive, but I didn't mind this as I liked the score. Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea is a great and distinctive slice of 70’s Sc-fi, with the comedy elements done in a good & balanced manner.

Moving onto this new Blu Ray- and we get an HD transfer from the original negative & improved subtitles, the print its self is good & largely clean, besides a few fleeting blips & squiggles. The subtitles are good for much of the film's runtime- though certainly early on, when we get a meeting scene with white subtitles on white backgrounds- they are a little difficult to read. On the extras side, we get a new Projection Booth commentary- featuring Czech film & genre commentators Kat Ellinger, Jonathan Owen, and Mike White. This a nicely chatty, often entertaining, and fact/ observations heavy track- it starts with them discussing the quirky different translations of the film's title, the one & only time it played on UK TV in the 1980s. As they move on they discuss the film's plot & it’s original story, going onto talk about the films blend of slapstick & dark humour. They talk about other Czech Sci-fi films, make onscreen observations, & discuss the films largely 70’s setting- even though it’s meant to be set in 1995. All told a worthy track. The release comes with a sixteen-page inlay booklet- this takes in a seven-page essay about the film by writer & filmmaker Graham Williamson, stills from the film, and credits.

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea is the second release of the year from Second Run- and it couldn't be any more different from it’s first the grim & transgressive Liberté. So it’s great to see them opening up their release schedule with such polar opposite films, making one very curious about what to expect from the label in 2021. In finishing this is a must buy if you like original & creative Sci-fi, with touches of well-placed humour.