Romance

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production year

1964

Runtime

24 min

Category

povídka

Genre

short-story, love story

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionshort

Original title

Romance

Czech title

Romance

English title

Romance

Summary

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.

Synopsis

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.

Cast

Dana Valtová

Cikánka Margitka

Ivan Vyskočil

instalatér Gaston Košilka

Karel Jeřábek

hlídač

Bohumil Hrabal

spící muž v tramvaji

Dubbing

Ferdinand Krůta

hlas mistra

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Květa Ondráková

Assistant Director

Zdenka Petřková

Based on

Bohumil Hrabal (Romance – povídka ze sbírky Pábitelé)

Shooting Script

Jaromil Jireš

Director of Photography

Jaroslav Kučera

Second Unit Photography

Miroslav Ondříček

Camera Operator

Jiří Štíbr, Vladimír Zajíc

Production Designer

Oldřich Bosák

Assistent Production Designer

Bohumil Nový

Set Designer

František Zajíček, Jan Vrňata, Viktor Fixl

Costume Designer

Marta Bártová

Make-Up Artist

František Novotný

Assistant Film Editor

Eva Horázná, Jitka Šulcová

Sound Designer

Blažej Bernard

Assistant Sound Designer

Václav Kliegel

Production Manager

František Sandr

Unit Production Manager

Ludmila Tikovská, Luděk Marold, Věra Winkelhöferová

Unit Production Manager

Karel Kovář

Cooperation

Růžena Nováková (klapka)

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Šust

Songs

Cikánka

Song Composer Karel Vacek
Writer of Lyrics Karel Vacek
Singer Ferdinand Krůta

Tvé foto

Song Composer Jára Beneš
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Rohan
Singer Oldřich Kovář

Romská píseň

Singer ženský hlas

Down By the Riverside

Production info

Original Title

Romance

Czech Title

Romance

English Title

Romance

Category

povídka

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

short-story, love story

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production Year

1964

Technical info

Duration typology

short film

Duration in minutes

24 min

Original length in metres

661 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, BRD

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour, black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 16. mezinárodní filmový festival Melbourne

1967
Melbourne / Australia