A Man Who Rose in Price
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1967Production year
1967Premiere
28 June 1968Runtime
82 minCategory
filmGenre
absurd, tragicomedyTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Muž, který stoupl v ceněCzech title
Muž, který stoupl v ceněEnglish title
A Man Who Rose in PriceWorking title
Muž, který ztratil svou tvářSummary
This absurdist comedy is the sole feature film that director Jan Moravec has to his credit. Also written by Moravec, and co-directed with his experienced colleague Zdeněk Podskalský in 1967, it tells the story of the unfortunate character Benda. Whilst drunk one night, Benda, an official working in liquidating unwanted notes of currency, lets a certain artist tattoo a picture on his back. When the artist dies it turns out that Benda has become the property of a gallery because experts have declared the “work” to be the artist’s best painting. Benda falls ever lower on the social ladder, and finally has to steal to feed his family. The gallery, meanwhile, is not interested in his life, it is only concerned for the painting he bears... This anecdotal story aspires to a parable about a society that puts material objects before human lives. It is an unfairly forgotten film in which the roles of the Benda family spouses were taken by Jozef Kroner and Jaroslava Tichá.
Synopsis
Mr Benda, a married father of two children, works for a company that liquidates old banknotes - the so-called "annihilator". He likes to booze and usually does not remember anything the next day. After one drunken party, he is visited by a painter who tattooed his back in drunkenness the previous night. The painter soon dies and becomes famous after his death, bequesting all his work to a gallery. The image tattooed on Benda's back is considered the painter's best work by the professionals, and Benda thus becomes the possession of the gallery. In the beginning, he and his wife think they may earn decent money from his fame but what happens is just the contrary. The gallery's director is interested only in the image, rejecting all responsibility for the fate of the man-Benda. Benda eventually loses his job, having to spend all his time exhibited in the gallery, and the family soon has nothing to live on. Benda begins to steal and gets to jail. Neither the court proceedings nor the hunger strike to which he is forced by his attorney are of any help, and his attempted suicide does not solve the situation either. Benda's wife in the meantime delivers twins who have the same image on their backs as their father. The gallery's director is intensely interested in the kids but again only as in non-living images. Benda becomes an outlaw and hides in the forest from civilization. One day, he witnesses how another live animal, a beautiful fallow deer, is hunted by his former guards from the gallery.
Photos
Cast
Jozef Kroner
Benda
Jaroslava Tichá
Bendova žena
Jan Libíček
hlídač obrazu
Josef Chvalina
hlídač obrazu
Ilja Prachař
ředitel galerie
Vladimír Šmeral
předseda soudu
Marta Krásová
sousedka na ulici
Josef Langmiler
nový ředitel galerie
Zdeněk Řehoř
obhájce
Viktor Maurer
pomocník obhájce
Josef Kemr
vrchní účetní v ničírně
Jiří Ostermann
zloděj kuriozit
Otakar Janda
Voice by Zdeněk Kryzánek
malíř
Josef Somr
vrátný v galerii
Pavel Landovský
tajný
Stanislav Hájek
tajný
František Husák
organizátor výstav
Jiří Hálek
restaurátor
Václav Kotva
brýlatý kolega z ničírny
Josef Vondráček
zapisovatel u soudu
Hana Kreihanslová
matka holčičky
Vladimír Huber
otec holčičky
Věra Tichánková
posluhovačka u malíře
Oldřich Lukeš
spící soudní přísedící
Ivo Freiman
Bendův syn, dvojče
Petr Freiman
Bendův syn, dvojče
Jan Pech
blázen vydávající se za psychiatra
Karel Urbánek
psychiatr
Pavel Bošek
psychiatr
Zdeněk Hodr
psychiatr
Jan Pohan
číšník
Václav Halama
Voice by Mirko Musil
zedník
Čestmír Řanda
ředitel banky
Gustav Hrdlička
Bendův kolega
Jan Faltýnek
Bendův kolega
Zdeněk Najman
dozorce
Bohumil Smutný
praporčík VB
Josef Vohryzek
návštěvník výstavy
Hana Talpová
matka malého kluka
Milada Ježková
sousedka na ulici
Vlastimila Vlková
sousedka na ulici
Jan Vlček
soused na ulici
Otto Budín
úředník
Zdeněk Grygárek
zaměstnanec ničírny
Gino Hašler
fotoreportér
Vladimír Klemens
lékař
Eduard Pavlíček
přísedící
Jan Liška
blázen
Ladislav Mrnka
hlídač
Zbyšek Pantůček
strážník
Pavel Kvasnička
strážník
Václav Trégl
celník
Rudolf Veselý
zaměstnanec ničírny
Dubbing
Mirko Musil
hlas příslušníka VB/hlas zedníka ve vězení
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Josef Sandr
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Special Effects
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Karel Vejřík, Růžena Hulínská
Unit Production Manager
Consultant
Jindřich Chalupecký
Cooperation
Věra Houšková (klapka), Karel Šebík (fotograf)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
Orchestr SHQ Karla Velebného (Music Conducted by Karel Velebný), Orchestr Karla Vlacha (Music Conducted by Karel Vlach)
Production info
Original Title
Muž, který stoupl v ceně
Czech Title
Muž, který stoupl v ceně
English Title
A Man Who Rose in Price
Working Title
Muž, který ztratil svou tvář
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
absurd, tragicomedy
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1967
Production Year
1967
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 2 December 1966
technical Screenplay approved 13 March 1967
start of filming 25 May 1967
end of filming 13 November 1967
projection approval 22 December 1967
withdrawal from distribution 15 September 1975
Premiere
premiere 28 June 1968 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 14 November 1968 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Jalta /1 týden/, Praha)
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Distribution
Creative Group
Tvůrčí skupina Feix – Brož, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Karel Feix (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
82 min
Original length in metres
2 328 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
