The prose of Bohumil Hrabal became a fascinating source of inspiration for directors of the Czechoslovak New Wave. In the film of short stories Perličky na dně (Pearls at the Bottom) from 1965, the future leading lights of the New Wave – Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, and Jaromil Jireš – gave a convincing demonstration of their abilities. Something similar was achieved by the half-hour Hrabal etude Sběrné surovosti (Cruelties of Life) by Juraj Herz, and the 14-minute story Fádní odpoledne (A Boring Afternoon) by the screenwriter and director Ivan Passer (1964), who was a close associate of Miloš Forman and who had a very successful feature debut in 1965 with Intimní osvětlení (Intimate Lighting). In his adaptation of the story of the same name from Hrabal’s collection of short stories Perlička na dně (Pearls of the Deep), he depicts the outwardly sleepy summer atmosphere of a suburban pub. The protagonists are individual guests who interact with each other – either consciously or because they find themselves together in the same time and space. An arrogant young man provoking the irritable innkeeper, a foursome of card players, an ex-footballer with a saucepan of sauerkraut, and an elegant woman walking the streets – these are all drawn into the action, which is given momentum by a game of football taking place nearby. The lost Sunday match, which passing fans enjoyed with a swagger, is an echo of collective futility: the wishes and desires of the individual characters are more like something from a summer dream looking toward the past than an impetus for action... In A Boring Afternoon, Ivan Passer proves himself to be a master of meaningless pauses and unspoken sentences that lay bare the existential timelessness of human existence with laconic kindness. The author of the original story and co-screenwriter Bohumil Hrabal appeared as one of the unnamed bar patrons in this film shot by the cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera.
An elderly man sits in a pub on a summer Sunday afternoon. At another table, four middle-aged ladies play cards and sing to themselves in a low voice. The publican is scandalized by a young man who keeps ordering one beer after another just by waving his hand, and chain-smokes without for a moment taking his eyes off a book entitled When Wolves Howl. A bunch of football fans comes to brace themselves with a drink and the elderly man refuse their offer to join them at the stadium because he fears for his weak heart. An ex-football player arrives with a casserole of pickled cabbage and starts to chat about long forgotten sport stars. The young man pays his bill and infuriates the publican by using a three-crown paper note - a refused tip - to light up his cigarette. The man with the cabbage is mesmerised by an elegantly dressed woman taking a walk on the street in front of the pub. The gloomy return of the football fans shows the results of the game. The elderly man want to take his medicine but his arm drops and his eyes remain staring out into nowhere. The elegant woman walks across the field, and the man with the cabbage follows her, like hypnotized.
The film was distributed to Czech cinemas along with the Hungarian feature film Four Girls.
žena
muž
muž
muž
muž
muž
hráč kulečníku
Zdenka Petřková
Bohumil Hrabal (Fádní odpoledne – povídka ze sbírky Perlička na dně)
Jiří Štíbr, Vladimír Zajíc
František Zajíček, Jan Vrňata, Viktor Fixl
Ludmila Tikovská, Luděk Marold, Věra Winkelhöferová
Růžena Nováková (klapka)
Singer ženský sbor
Singer ženský sbor
Fádní odpoledne
Fádní odpoledne
A Boring Afternoon
A Dull Afternoon
film
featuretheatrical distribution
short-story
Czechoslovakia
1964
1964
literary Screenplay approved 31 January 1964
technical Screenplay approved 24 February 1964
start of filming 10 July 1964
end of filming 10 December 1964
projection approval 1 June 1965
premiere 23 July 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 27 August 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Paříž /1 týden/, Praha)
renewed premiere 27 May 2021 /suitable for all ages without limit/
no caption (1965) / no caption (2021)
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1965), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2021)
Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Fikar, Ladislav Fikar (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
short film
14 min
381 meters
16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, BRD
1:1,37
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Festival: 19. mezinárodní filmový festival Locarno
1966
Locarno / Switzerland
Festival: 14. mezinárodní filmový týden Mannheim
1965
Mannheim / Federal Republic of Germany
Festival: 14. mezinárodní filmový týden Mannheim
1965
Mannheim / Federal Republic of Germany
Festival: 14. mezinárodní filmový týden Mannheim
1965
Mannheim / Federal Republic of Germany