From Saturday to Sunday

Summary

Gustav Machatý’s melodrama From Saturday to Sunday is being mentioned in the author’s work less often than his more famous erotic drama’s Eroticon (1929) and Ecstasy (1932). Despite this fact the film has comparable qualities. Machatý surrounded himself again with a crew of reliable collaborators (Vítězslav Nezval collaborated with him on the theme and script, Václav Vích was behind the camera, Jaroslav Ježek composed the music and Alexander Hackenschmied was the architect). The film stands out for its realistic view of a nightlife in Prague at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s. However, it is spiced up with a poetic look, some avant-garde techniques and a play with symbols, associations, and implications. At the same time, it is a rare example of how in the early days of sound film production was it possible to work with sound, music, and movement, using counterpoint to the image. Apart from Jiřina Šejbalová and the debuting Magda Maděrová, what is particularly striking is the sympathetic acting of L. H. Struna, who was regularly cast in negative roles, especially during the silent film period. – Digitally restored picture brought back the National Film Archive in 2017 after eighty-six years since the original premiere in 1931. The festive renewed premiere took place in Prague’s Kino Pilotů on 8 March 2017, and the film was also screened as part of the Czech film exhibition Ecstasy and Irony: Czech film 1927-1943 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in April 2017. With financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, and the partnership of the National Library of Norway and CESNET, the restoration was carried out in 2016 at the Magyar Filmlabor in Budapest. Due to its condition, the preserved rare original negative could not be used for digitisation. At the same time, no original copy from the 1930’s has survived. The digitization of the image was therefore carried out from the best-preserved copy (made in the 1960s). Based on tests, a duplication positive was selected for the sound digitisation. In addition to the original negative of the image, the archive also holds a French dubbed copy. Upon request, the film was distributed with English subtitles, and a short lecture and presentation on digital film restoration with demonstrations could also be arranged.

Synopsis

Note

The French-speaking copy combined print 1 836,5 metres is also preserved in the National Film Archive Prague.