Golden Fern

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1963

Production year

1962—1963

Premiere

22 November 1963

Runtime

104 min

Director

Jiří Weiss

Category

film

Genre

fairytale

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Zlaté kapradí

Czech title

Zlaté kapradí

English title

Golden Fern

Synopsis

On a Midsummer night, the young shepherd Jura succeeds in tearing a spray of magical golden fern in a forest. He defends himself from birds of prey and return to his safe chalet. A beautiful fairy comes for the fern. Jura drags her to the chalet, asks for a kiss and the two end up in a passionate embrace. Dryad [Lesanka], as Jura begins to call her, becomes the shepherd's wife. She manages to save a little seed, which fell out of the fern's blossom. A few days later, the couple visits a village dance, and while the nimble-footed fairy is still fresh after the brisk dance, the swaggering shepherd, scoffed-at by the villagers, falls to the floor with exhaustion. The conceited Jura gets drunk out of spite and, with his friends, falls victim to a military officer from a press-gang. Dryad still manages to give him a shirt into which she has sewn up the magical seed. The seed protects Jura's life in battles, making him invulnerable. Jura is promoted when he brings back a banner he seized from the Turkish camp. Captain Jura is then noticed by the conceited and beautiful daughter of the general. She sets several tasks to Jura and becomes his lover. Because of her, Jura even burns his tow-cloth shirt, thus losing both the magic protection and Dryad's love. Disguised as a Turk, the shepherd then goes to the enemy camp to steal a precious nightingale he had promised the general's daughter. Upon his return, he is considered a deserter and sentenced to be flogged to death. His friends eventually save his life. Jura returns home, but only in vain tries to find his fairy in his chalet and in the woods.

Cast

Vít Olmer

Voice by Jan Tříska
ovčák Jura

Dana Smutná

generálova dcera

Jaroslav Vojta

hospodář

Josef Bek

kaprál

Jindřich Narenta

velitel vezírových stájí

Josef Hlinomaz

hospodský

Ivo Němeček

verbíř

Miroslav Svoboda

vezírův pobočník

Jiří Bělohoubek

stráž

Milan Kindl

krčmář

Marie Waltrová

Martinova matka

Aleš Bílek

hudebník

Jaroslav Boťa

hudebník

František Brož

hudebník

Karel Duba

hudebník

F. Hurtík

hudebník

Čestmír Preclík

hudebník

Karel Koš

hudebník

R. Líčeník

bubeník

Jaroslav Imramovský

bubeník

J. Skružný

bubeník

Zdeněk Šiška

bubeník

B. Pavlík

bankéř

M. Heyduková

huriska

D. Reichová

huriska

A. Šťastná

huriska

Raoul Schránil

důstojník

Zdeněk Skalický

turecký důstojník

Evžen Růžek

odsouzenec

J. Neumanová

odaliska

Anselma Teisingerová

dcera hostinského

Crew and creators

Director

Jiří Weiss

Second Unit Director

Věra Ženíšková

Assistant Director

Miloš Kohout, Zdena Švarcová

Based on

Jan Drda (Zlaté kapradí – pohádka ze sbírky České pohádky)

Screenplay

Jiří Weiss, Otomar Krejča (dialogy), Jiří Brdečka (spolupráce na scénáři)

Director of Photography

Bedřich Baťka

Camera Operator

Rudolf Holan

Production Designer

Karel Škvor

Assistent Production Designer

Jan Kňákal

Set Designer

Jiří Haller, Libor Speychal, Václav Štědronský, František Zajíček

Film Editor

Antonín Zelenka

Assistant Film Editor

Vilemína Binterová

Sound Designer

Emil Poledník

Production Manager

František Milič

Unit Production Manager

Václav Havlík, Karel Kovář

Consultant

PhDr. Václav M. Škorpil, Jan Vaníček

Cooperation

Jiřina Brandejsová (klapka), Drahoslav Kapička (fotograf), Jiří Všetečka (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Srnka

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Choreographer

František Halmazňa

Danced by

Vysokoškolský umělecký soubor, Balet Národního divadla Praha

Songs

Voják, voják

Singer sbor

Production info

Original Title

Zlaté kapradí

Czech Title

Zlaté kapradí

English Title

Golden Fern

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

fairytale

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1963

Production Year

1962—1963

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 6 December 1961
technical Screenplay approved 22 June 1962
start of filming 16 August 1962
end of filming 31 May 1963
projection approval 25 July 1963
withdrawal from distribution 1 September 1974

Premiere

premiere 22 November 1963 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 29 November 1963 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Alfa /3 týdny/, Veletrhy /1 týden od 13. 12./ a Svornost /1 týden od 20. 12./, Praha)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

104 min

Original length in metres

2 956 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66, 1:2,35

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech