The Golden Queening

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production year

1964—1965

Premiere

22 October 1965

Runtime

86 min

Category

film

Genre

psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Zlatá reneta

Czech title

Zlatá reneta

English title

The Golden Queening

Summary

In the 1960s, director Otakar Vávra made three remarkable films inspired by the work of writer and poet František Hrubín. In addition to Srpnová neděle (August Sunday, 1960) and Romance pro křídlovku (Romance for the Bugle, 1966) there is the poetic drama Zlatá reneta, which took its inspiration from the poet’s eponymous retrospective novella. Even though Hrubín contributed to the making of this film, most of the credit for the quality of the nostalgic narrative about the impossibility of turning back the tide of time rests with the director, 54 at the time. In the part of an ageing man returning to his native village after many years away, only to become mired in memories of his first love (Eva Límanová), the director provided an attractive acting opportunity for a master of the craft Karel Höger. The film’s poetic style fits very well with motion pictures of the Czechoslovak New Wave made in the 1960s by Vávra’s students from Prague's FAMU film school. Zlatá reneta (The Golden Queening) achieved success representing Czechoslovak cinema in collecting the Golden Shell, the highest award at the international film festival of San Sebastian, as well as the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) and CIDALC (Comité International du Cinema Educatif et Culturel) prizes.

Synopsis

After many years, fifty-one-year old Prague librarian Jan returns to his native village, which he left as a young man. Perhaps he hopes that the landscape of his youth will restore his long-lost hopes and help him correct the mistakes he has committed in his life. It seems to him that he sees a blonde girl on the river bank, his first love Lenka. Jan enters one of the little houses and runs into his relative Anka, a not-too-friendly, worn out village woman. Anka leaves with her daughter Božka to the cinema, leaving the guest in the kitchen, but still locking the room. Neither is Božka's husband Toník, who spends some time drinking with Jan, overcordial. Jan has been abstaining from alcohol for several years already and his sleep is influenced by alcohol. When he wakes up at night in the windowless room where his hosts have accommodated him, he witnesses a bitter fight between the parents and their daughter for they disapprove her wooer. Jan faces his returning memories of the fear he experienced during the war, of problems with drunkenness as well as his unhappy relationship with Marta, whose death still took him by surprise. In the morning, he wants to find Lenka, who works in a maternity hospital, preparing an excuse for having left her a long time ago and not responding to her letters when she was about to become the single mother of his child. Lenka, growing old, does not recognize him and Jan, out of cowardice, does not reveal anything. The disappointed man leaves. Youth cannot be returned.

Cast

Karel Höger

knihovník Jan

Slávka Budínová

Marta Horáková, Janova družka

Ilja Prachař

Toník Zuna, Janův příbuzný

Věra Tichánková

Anka, Zunova žena

Vladimíra Obručová

Božka, dcera Zunových

Blažena Holišová

Karla Skálová, Martina sestra

Jarmila Bechyňová

Moulisová, Janova teta

Zdeněk Blažek

zřízenec pohřebního ústavu

Antonín Kubový

zřízenec pohřebního ústavu

Zdeněk Boubelík

zřízenec pohřebního ústavu

Václav Kyzlink

úředník pohřebního ústavu

Ema Skálová

trafikantka Milena, Janova poslední družka

František Blažek

Kolda

Lubomír Pečenka

Lorenz

Eva Klímová

Lenka ve středních letech

Milan Krch

Jan pětatřicetiletý

Jiří Sedlmayer

Jan jako mladík

Jan Diviš

SA-mann

Ilona Kubásková

žena na chodbě

František Marek

vrátný v porodnici

V. Truneček

Toník jako mladý muž

J. Kabíčková

vedoucí

Jan Perlík

vedoucí

R. Kučera

výčepní

R. Rosenbaum

výčepní

O. Šináglová

výčepní

A. Balíková

prodavačka

R. Pachtová

prodavačka

V. Pipková

prodavačka

I. Poláková

prodavačka

B. Šafárová

prodavačka

J. Šandarová

prodavačka

B. Štorchová

prodavačka

Klášterková

prodavačka

Matějovičová

prodavačka

Procházková

prodavačka

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Bohumil Brejcha, Tomáš Kulík

Based on

František Hrubín (Zlatá reneta – novela)

Shooting Script

Otakar Vávra

Director of Photography

Andrej Barla

Second Unit Photography

Ivan Šlapeta

Camera Operator

Vratislav Damborský

Production Designer

Karel Škvor

Assistent Production Designer

Jan Kňákal

Set Designer

Jiří Čermák, Emanuel Dvořáček, Eva Slívová

Costume Designer

Kamil Lhoták

Film Editor

Antonín Zelenka

Assistant Film Editor

Anna Mejtská

Sound Designer

Miloš Alster, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)

Production Manager

Rudolf Hájek

Unit Production Manager

Antonín Kubový, Adolf Široký

Unit Production Manager

Jaroslav Vlk

Cooperation

Pavla Marková (klapka), Jaromír Komárek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Srnka

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Production info

Original Title

Zlatá reneta

Czech Title

Zlatá reneta

English Title

The Golden Queening

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production Year

1964—1965

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 24 April 1964
technical Screenplay approved 8 July 1964
start of filming 24 August 1964
end of filming 21 January 1965
projection approval 27 March 1965
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1972

Premiere

premiere 22 October 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
preview 22 October 1965 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 12 November 1965 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Paříž /2 týdny/ a Bystrica /1 týden od 19. 11./, Praha)

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Fikar, Ladislav Fikar (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

86 min

Original length in metres

2 449 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

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: 18. mezinárodní filmový festival San Sebastián

1965
San Sebastián / Spain

Vítěz

Festival: 18. mezinárodní filmový festival San Sebastián

1965
San Sebastián / Spain

Vítěz

Festival: 18. mezinárodní filmový festival San Sebastián

1965
San Sebastián / Spain