Diamonds of the Night
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1964Production year
1963Premiere
25 September 1964Runtime
67 minDirector
Jan NěmecCategory
filmGenre
drama, psychologicalTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Démanty nociCzech title
Démanty nociEnglish title
Diamonds of the NightSummary
In winning the Grand Prix at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (IFFMH) in 1964, Jan Němec’s drama Démanty noci (Diamonds of the Night) became the first Czechoslovak New Wave film to receive an internationally recognised award. The motion picture, based on a short story from an eponymous book by Arnošt Lustig, started the brilliant career of one of the most original Czech filmmakers of the 1960s (Němec had adapted one other Lustig short story, Sousto (Mouthful), as a short film while graduating at Prague film school FAMU). Diamonds of the Night offers an unusual, intensely attitudinal insight into the topic of war. It tells the story of two young Jewish men who escape from a train taking them to their death. The film amounts to a naturalistic study of endangerment, repudiation and uprootedness. The experiences of the desperate refugees in the Sudetenland forest merge with the memories, dreams and visions of one of the men. Thus the anatomy of a tortured human soul is projected into the sphere of existential drama.
Synopsis
Second World War. Two young boys jump from a moving deportation train carrying Jews. The German guards shoot at them but the boys manage to reach the forest. They are exhausted, hungry, freezing cold and want to go home. In a fever, they are haunted by memories of their recent horrific past, images of events that never did and never will occur in reality, visions of returning home, which they never reach in their dreams. From their hiding place deep in the forest, they see a woman carrying food to her husband in the field. After she returns to the cottage, one of the fugitives goes to ask her for food. He wants to kill her to prevent her informing on them. The boy is given bread but cannot bring himself to harm the woman. The famished boys cannot swallow the food. The woman puts a scarf on her head and considers whether to inform on them or not. Armed old men from the village organize a manhunt and catch up with the exhausted boys. They celebrate their victory while the boys wait to see what will happen to them. Finally, the euphoric Germans let them go and the two young boys run off hoping they will reach their home after all.
Film online
Photos
Cast
Ladislav Janský
První
Antonín Kumbera
Voice by Vladimír Pucholt
Druhý
Ilse Bischofová
venkovanka
August Bischof
venkovan
Ivan Asič
mladý člen SS
Jan Říha
mladý člen SS
Josef Koblížek
pronásledovatel
Josef Koggel
pronásledovatel
Josef Kubát
pronásledovatel
Rudolf Lukášek
pronásledovatel
Oskar Miller
pronásledovatel
Bohumil Moudrý
pronásledovatel
Karel Navrátil
pronásledovatel
Evžen Pichl
pronásledovatel
František Procházka (2)
pronásledovatel
Anton Schich
pronásledovatel
Rudolf Stolle
pronásledovatel
František Vrána
pronásledovatel
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Continuity
Based on
Arnošt Lustig (Tma nemá stín – povídka ze sbírky Démanty noci)
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Miloslav Dvořák, Jan David (2), Libor Speychal
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
František Černý, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)
Assistant Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Ladislav Dražan, Vladimíra Kopecká, Lubomír Novotný
Cooperation
František Vláčil (režijní supervize), Jiřina Znamenáčková (klapka), Bohumil Ženíšek (vrchní osvětlovač), Jiří Stach (fotograf)
Production info
Original Title
Démanty noci
Czech Title
Démanty noci
English Title
Diamonds of the Night
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
drama, psychological
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1964
Production Year
1963
Production specifications
projection approval 16 March 1964
withdrawal from distribution 6 April 1973
withdrawal from distribution 1 July 1993
Premiere
premiere 25 September 1964 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 13 November 1964 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Praha /1 týden/, Praha)
renewed premiere 1 December 1989 /unsuitable for youths/
renewed premiere 30 August 2018 /suitable for all ages without limit/
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Laboratories
Distribution
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1964 a obnovená 1989), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2018)
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
67 min
Original length in metres
1 809 meters
Distribution carrier
35mm, DCP 2-D, BRD
Aspect ratio
1:1,37
Colour
black & white
Sound
sound
Sound system/format
mono
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
Czech, German
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
Awards
Vítěz
Festival: 33. mezinárodní festival archivních a restaurovaných filmů Il Cinema Ritrovato Boloňa
2019
Boloňa / Italy
Second Run
Vítěz
Event: Anketa Českého rozhlasu – Kánon100 (nejoblíbenější umělecká díla posledních 100 let)
2018
Praha / Czech Republic
Vítěz
Festival: 3. mezinárodní festival česko-německo-židovské kultury Praha – Devět bran
2002
Praha / Czech Republic
Jan Němec
Vítěz
Festival: 3. mezinárodní festival česko-německo-židovské kultury Praha – Devět bran
2002
Praha / Czech Republic
Arnošt Lustig
Vítěz
Event: Anketa filmových kritiků o nejlepší česko-slovenský hraný film století
1998
Praha / Czech Republic
Vítěz
Event: 7. mezinárodní kongres Mezinárodní unie filmových technických sdružení Praha
1966
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Vítěz
Event: Anketa britského periodika Films and Filming
1966
Londýn / Great Britain
Miroslav Hájek
Vítěz
Event: Umělecká soutěž k 20. výročí osvobození Československa
1965
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jan Němec
Vítěz
Exhibition: 1. mezinárodní přehlídka nového filmu Pesaro
1965
Pesaro / Italy
Vítěz
Festival: 13. mezinárodní filmový týden Mannheim
1964
Mannheim / Federal Republic of Germany
