Two years after filming his directorial debut The Cry (1963), Jaromil Jireš contributed with the Romance segment to the short story cycle Pearls of the Deep. Ivan Vyskočil as a plumber Gaston falls in love with a spirited gypsy (Dana Valtová, barely fifteen at the time of filming), whom he noticed in front of the Libeň cinema. A realistic character study of two young lovers with different social and cultural backgrounds, which at the same time talks about conditions in socialist Czechoslovakia, is based on Hrabal's memories of his own love affair.
Near a cinema in the Prague Libeň neighbourhood, a very pretty young Gypsy girl addresses a shy young man. The spontaneous girl asks him in no time to buy her a sweater displayed in the shop window. The shop is closed, and the young man thus at least promises to give her money. The girl takes him to her place and makes love to him. She likes that he is a plumber and that his name is Gaston, and immediately begins to plan their common future, lightly omitting many of his objections - Gaston does not even have to care about children since she already has a young daughter. Gaston complains about his boss, who constantly asks his workers to use his and each other's Christian names. Gaston cannot bring himself to do so with his boss. During their walk along the river Vltava, the couple runs into a small Gypsy camp. Its inhabitants strew their duvets directly on the ground and nap in a picturesque grouping. The girl keeps boasting of her grandfather who was a Gypsy baron. On the tram, the couple meets Gaston's boss, who is enchanted by Gaston's new girlfriend. He himself never made love to a Gypsy. The proud Gaston is then able to address his boss by his Christian name for the first time. A small Gypsy boy stands on a hill and enthusiastically pisses down into the valley.
Cikánka Margitka
instalatér Gaston Košilka
hlídač
hlídač
spící muž v tramvaji
hlas mistra
Zdenka Petřková
Bohumil Hrabal (Romance – povídka ze sbírky Pábitelé)
Jiří Štíbr, Vladimír Zajíc
František Zajíček, Jan Vrňata, Viktor Fixl
Ludmila Tikovská, Luděk Marold, Věra Winkelhöferová
Růžena Nováková (klapka)
Song Composer Karel Vacek
Writer of Lyrics Karel Vacek
Singer Ferdinand Krůta
Song Composer Jára Beneš
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Rohan
Singer Oldřich Kovář
Singer ženský hlas
Romance
Romance
Romance
povídka
featuretheatrical distribution
short-story, love story
Czechoslovakia
1965
1964
short film
24 min
661 meters
16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, BRD
1:1,37
colour, black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Festival: 16. mezinárodní filmový festival Melbourne
1967
Melbourne / Australia