Water Nymph

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production year

1962

Premiere

31 May 1963

Runtime

104 min

Category

film

Genre

opera

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Rusalka

Czech title

Rusalka

English title

Water Nymph

Synopsis

One moonlit night, the Little Water Nymph confesses to her father, the Water Sprite, that she has fallen in love with a man, a young Prince from the land who visits their forest lake. The Little Water Nymph now wants to become human. The Water Sprite tries to warn his daughter against this. When he fails, he advises her to seek the help of the witch. The witch will help her but she wants terrible things in return. When she becomes human, the Little Water Nymph will lose her voice and if she fails to win the Prince's eternal love she will become a will-o'-the wisp luring mortals to their ruin. Already transformed into a girl, the Little Water Nymph meets her Prince and he takes her to his castle. However, he is soon bored by her cold beauty he falls head over heels in love with the hot-blooded Princess. Rejected, the Little Water Nymph have to return to the depths of her lake. The only way to redeem her freedom would be to kill the man she loves. The Little Water Nymph, however, refuses this kind of redeem. The Princess mocks the Prince's feeling and the wretched youth goes back to look for his Little Water Nymph. He sees her at the lake, as a will-o'-the wisp, and trying to kiss her plunges to his death.

Cast

Jana Andrsová

Singing Voice Milada Šubrtová
Rusalka

Vladimír Ráž

Singing Voice Zdeněk Švehla
princ

Jiřina Šejbalová

Singing Voice Věra Soukupová
ježibaba

Josef Hlinomaz

Singing Voice Ondrej Malachovský
vodník

Josef Beyvl

Singing Voice Antonín Votava
hajný

Přemysl Kočí

hlavní lovec

Yvetta Pešková

Singing Voice Maria Tauberová
žínka

Astrid Štúrová

Singing Voice Eva Hlobilová
žínka

Naděžda Blažíčková

Singing Voice Věra Kriklová
žínka

Elvíra Němečková

žínka

Jaroslava Formánková

žínka

Eva Poslušná

žínka

Antonín Krčmář

Singing Voice Helena Tattermuschová
kuchtík

Karel Bednář

sloužící

Růžena Elingerová

lesní můra

bratři Hlaváčovi

pážata

Jaroslav Holeček

smrtihlav

František Maxián

jiný kuchtík

Marie Sikulová

vesničanka

Věra Starková

vesničanka

Hana Talpová

vesničanka

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Věra Šimková

Assistant Director

Zdenka Pešulová

Based on

Jaroslav Kvapil (Rusalka – libreto opery), Antonín Dvořák (Rusalka – opera)

Director of Photography

Jan Stallich

Second Unit Photography

Stanislav Kautský

Camera Operator

Jaroslav Kaiser

Production Designer

Chrudoš Uher

Assistent Production Designer

Jaroslav Brabenec

Set Designer

Jan Petrů

Costume Designer

Jan Skalický

Assistant Film Editor

Štěpánka Stříbrná

Sound Designer

Miloslav Hůrka

Special Effects

Jan Stallich, Jiří Rumler

Production Manager

Miloslav Procházka

Unit Production Manager

Zdeňka Černá, Miloš Bergl

Unit Production Manager

Ladislav Dražan

Cooperation

M. Schönová (klapka), Miloslav Mirvald (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Antonín Dvořák

Choreographer

Jiří Němeček

Danced by

Balet Národního divadla Praha, Zdeňka Fröhlichová, Jarmila Belšanová, Helena Holubová, Jana Braunschlägerová, Jiří Kaftan, Zdena Bronislavská, Karel Kmoch, Věra Burešová, Drahomíra Konárská, Stanislav Buzek, Alena Martinovská, František Doleček, Věra Michlová, Jaroslav Doleček (2), Tomáš Němeček, Josef Fajta, Jitka Ogounová, Richard Fröhlich, Zdeněk Pašek, Hana Slouková, Jiří Hladík, Otto Šanda, Oldřich Král, Olga Šulcová, Jiří Lederer, Gustav Voborník, Luděk Ludvík, Eliška Boňková, Dagmar Novotná, Davídek, Vladimír Nový, Jaroslava Dolečková, Heda Pašková, Albína Drahotová, Jaguše Podešvová, Fraňková, Blanka Rendlová, Ladislav Glaser, Lubomír Rešl, Eva Roučková, Otto Zajíc, Vladimír Sedláček, Evžen Souček, Irena Švingerová, Tichý, Dimitrij Turčaninov, Jan Valchař, Miluše Vavřínová, Viktorka Viktorinová, Zdeňka Výmolová

Production info

Original Title

Rusalka

Czech Title

Rusalka

English Title

Water Nymph

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

opera

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production Year

1962

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 27 July 1962
technical Screenplay approved 22 August 1962
start of filming 14 September 1962
end of filming 28 November 1962
projection approval 29 December 1962
withdrawal from distribution 30 September 1976

Premiere

premiere 22 March 1963 /suitable for youths/ (kino Alfa /9 týdnů/, Praha)
premiere 31 May 1963 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Rouha – Jelínek, Václav Jelínek (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Václav Rouha (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

104 min

Original length in metres

2 949 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,85, 1:2,35

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

stereo

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, sung

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Exhibition: Mezinárodní filmová přehlídka Teherán

1964
Teherán / Iran