A Man Who Rose in Price

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1967

Production year

1967

Premiere

28 June 1968

Runtime

82 min

Category

film

Genre

absurd, tragicomedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

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

Summary

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.

Cast

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

Viktor Maurer

pomocník obhájce

Josef Kemr

vrchní účetní v ničírně

Jiří Ostermann

zloděj kuriozit

Josef Somr

vrátný v galerii

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

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

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

Eduard Pavlíček

přísedící

Jan Liška

blázen

Pavel Kvasnička

strážník

Rudolf Veselý

zaměstnanec ničírny

Dubbing

Mirko Musil

hlas příslušníka VB/hlas zedníka ve vězení

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

František Sádek

Assistant Director

Josef Sandr

Screenplay

Jan Moravec

Shooting Script

Jan Moravec

Director of Photography

Rudolf Stahl ml.

Second Unit Photography

Karel Dobřichovský

Camera Operator

Jiří Širc

Production Designer

Karel Lier

Assistent Production Designer

Libuše Jahodová

Costume Designer

Ester Krumbachová

Assistant Film Editor

Helena Lehovcová

Sound Designer

Miloš Alster

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Josef Ouzký

Unit Production Manager

Karel Vejřík, Růžena Hulínská

Unit Production Manager

Vladimíra Kopecká

Consultant

Jindřich Chalupecký

Cooperation

Věra Houšková (klapka), Karel Šebík (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Emil Ludvík

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)

Studio

Barrandov

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