Czechoslovak cinema was reinforced in 1963 by the emergence of Jaromil Jireš. He made his directing debut with a simple narrative based on a book by Ludvík Aškenazy (who also wrote the screenplay). Similarly to contemporaries at Prague’s FAMU film academy, this talented young filmmaker was influenced by the documentary approach to making feature films. The protagonists in Křik (The Cry), husband and wife Slávek and Ivana, experience a rather important day in their lives during which they are separated from each other. Ivana lies in the delivery room giving birth to their first child, while Slávek is repairing televisions at work. The spouses dwell on themselves and the life they have up until now experienced with each other. Jireš and cameraman Jaroslav Kučera use a hidden camera perspective, something that was quite unusual at the time. The director also uses non-actors to add authenticity to the narrative. Slávek is, however, played by the experienced Josef Abrhám. The motion picture earned Jireš the Special Recognition for a Young Director award at the XVII Cannes Film Festival in 1964.
TV mechanic Slávek takes his wife Ivana to the maternity hospital. From the moment they say goodbye, the couple can't stop thinking about each other. Their common life up to nowunfolds in fragments of memories: their first acquaintance at the railway bridge, the worries of living in a rented apartment, the wedding, furnishing the new flat. They also remember the small quarrels and the fact that they did not want a baby at first. Ivana is in the operating room, while Slávek keeps his appointments with customers and fixes broken TV sets. Anxious about waiting of the delivering a baby, he sensitively and newly becomes aware of the things, people and events around him. The editor's phrases as he dictates the copy typist his review of the Italian film La Dolce Vita, the children at school who must run to shelter during an air-raid warning exercise, the cynicism of a diplomat speaking ironically about fatherhood in the shadow of the impending war. At the post-office, Slavek gets into a fight with a man who was rude to a young black man. At home, at the end of this busy day and difficulties with obtaining information from the hospital, the young man falls asleep. As he is halfway dreaming he imagines hearing the cry of a newborn. He secretly goes to the hospital, already sure that their baby has been born. He pauses before Ivana's room but does not go in.
Ivana Procházková
Slávek, Ivanin muž
učitelka
mladý lékař
rasista na poště
redaktor
elegantní muž
mondénní žena
dívka Alena
vrátný
maminka na sousední posteli v porodnici
Voice by Gabriela Vránová
mladá sestřička
porodní asistentka
medička Zuzana
medička
medička
medička
nevěsta
drobná maminka
Voice by Václav Sloup
malíř Láďa Fořt, Slávkův kamarád
černoch
kluk na poště
muž v televizi
hlas bytné za zdí
hlas Tondy z alba fotografií
Jan David (2), Miroslav Fára, Karel Kočí
Milan R. Novotný, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)
Jiří Beránek, Otakar Jiříček
Vilém Henzel, Jaroslav Vágner
doc. dr. V. Trnka
Helena Michálková (klapka), Karel Ješátko (fotograf)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Georges Bizet (Carmen /árie Toreadore smělý/ – opera)
Komorní harmonie (Music Conducted by Libor Pešek)
Singer dětský sbor
Song Composer Karel Mareš
Writer of Lyrics Rostislav Černý
Singer Josef Kábrt
Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer dětský hlas
Křik
Křik
The Cry
film
featuretheatrical distribution
social, psychological
Czechoslovakia
1963
1963
literary Screenplay approved 25 July 1962
technical Screenplay approved 9 November 1962
start of filming 21 January 1963
end of filming 24 June 1963
projection approval 19 September 1963
withdrawal from distribution 1 September 1974
withdrawal from distribution 1 July 1993
preview 31 January 1964 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 7 February 1964 /suitable for youths/ (kina Paříž /3 týdny/, Odboj /½ týdne od 14. 2./ a Kyjev /1 týden od 21. 2./, Praha)
premiere 14 February 1964 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 1 April 1987 /suitable for youths/
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1964 a obnovená 1987)
Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
78 min
2 238 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Exhibition: 1. mezinárodní dny Kartágo
1966
Kartágo / Tunisia
Exhibition: Přehlídka společensky angažovaných a kulturních filmů Naarden
1966
Naarden / the Netherlands
Event: Umělecká soutěž k 20. výročí osvobození Československa
1965
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jaromil Jireš
Event: Čestná uznání Československého filmu a Svazu československých divadelních a filmových umělců z produkce roku 1963
1964
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 17. mezinárodní filmový festival Cannes
1964
Cannes / France
Festival: 17. mezinárodní filmový festival Locarno
1964
Locarno / Switzerland