Looking Back

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1968

Production year

1968

Premiere

3 January 1969

Runtime

92 min

Category

film

Genre

drama, psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Ohlédnutí

Czech title

Ohlédnutí

English title

Looking Back

Summary

The fates of two people, who see the world from different perspectives, unexpectedly collide when young screenwriter František meets the author Olga Machová. Her successful autobiographical short story is meant to serve as the basis for a forthcoming film which František is to work on, but they don’t see eye to eye – at first. The bohemian screenwriter is an eternally disgruntled sceptic whilst the aging author is an optimist with an unshakable communist worldview, despite the tragic past. The intimate get-together between the disparate duo provides screenwriter and director Antonín Máša with his basis for this 1968 psychological drama. Looking back, it proves to be a bridge between 1940s and 1950s retrospectives and the then contemporary late 1960s. Petr Čepek and Jiřina Třebická star in this thought-provoking film.

Synopsis

Young script-writer František is hired to write a film script based on the successful novel Looking Back. He meets with the novel's female author, a University professor and writer named Olga Machová, approximately ten-years-older than him. In the beginning, they do not understand each other at all. František is a sceptic experiencing a moral crisis, unsatisfied with both his work and his private life - he lives separated from his wife and has no deeper feelings for his numerous lovers. He even gets drunk from time to time and breaks the public peace. Olga is lonesome, too, but considers her life fulfilled. In her novel, she summed up her previous experiences. During the German occupation, she was a very young girl, was arrested and tortured, and her father was killed by Gestapo. The Germans released the dying woman prisoner, but Olga recovered and spent the rest of the war with the partisans. The consequences of torture, however, deprived Olga of the possibility to have children and, subsequently, also of her relationship with a beloved man. Despite all that, she remains a stubborn optimist. Her hard-earned wisdom and equanimity strongly influence František during their working sessions and trips to the places of Olga's youth. The two incongruous people gradually become close; Olga, however, prevents their relationship from turning to love. František then tries to find love with his former lover, but it seems that it is already too late for anything. Olga eventually leaves abroad for half a year.

Cast

Jiřina Třebická

Olga Machová, profesorka a spisovatelka

Petr Čepek

scenárista František Černý

Věra Galatíková

barová zpěvačka Helena, Františkova přítelkyně

Taťána Fischerová

Veronika, Františkova přítelkyně

Pavol Simko

komisař Míša Barečnyj

Miroslav Nohýnek

partyzán Lojza Pondělíček, později strážmistr VB

Pavel Moskalyk

partyzán Míťa

Ján Dzubák

partyzán Vaska

Josef Bárta

partyzán

Milena Dvorská

Marie, Františkova manželka

Josef Vondráček

Karel Kvapil, Olžin přítel v mládí

Libuše Švormová

Kvapilova manželka

Ladislav Štětka

MUDr. Mach, Olžin otec

Vladimír Zátka

František jako dítě

Josef Roubíček

Františkův kamarád v dětství

Karel Hábl

student v komisi

Oldřich Vízner

student před komisí

Josef Mojžíš

brýlatý člen komise

Jindřich Heidelberg

úředník ministerstva vnitra

Josef Pechar

muž ve vinárně

Stanislav Liška

muž ve vinárně

Richard Valenta

Mariin milenec

Vlasta Fáberová

švagrová

Ladislav Gzela

vězeň gestapa

Václav Kotva

vězeň gestapa

Ivan Kheil

dozorce

Miloš V. Kratochvíl

přednášející na filozofické fakultě

Václav Petrus

velitel studentů

Jaroslav Franta

důstojník SS

Stanislav Hájek

důstojník SS

Vladimír Pospíšil

důstojník SS

K. Blahout

gestapák

Jiří Svárovský

gestapák

Jiří Kasík

partyzán

František Pokorný (2)

švagr

Antonín Stockinger

bratr

Karel Manžel

dědeček

F. Sedlák

německý voják

Z. Janas

architekt

Jan Chodský

farář

K. Burda

sebevrah

Ferdinand Petr

hudebník

František Tuček

hudebník

F. Zedník

hudebník

Z. Zrno

hudebník

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Jan Kratochvíl

Assistant Director

Karel Brchel

Continuity

Marta Kunstová

Screenplay

Antonín Máša

Director of Photography

Ivan Šlapeta

Second Unit Photography

Josef Pechar

Camera Operator

Richard Valenta

Production Designer

Jan Oliva

Set Designer

Bohumil Kadlec, Ludmila Štěchová, František Zajíček

Costume Designer

Svatava Sophová

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Sound Designer

Jiří Kejř

Production Manager

Jiří Krejčí

Unit Production Manager

Josef Mojžíš, Věra Winkelhöferová

Unit Production Manager

Jaroslav Vondráček

Consultant

Eduard Čejka

Cooperation

Věra Mayerová (klapka), Jaroslav Franta (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Svatopluk Havelka

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Songs

Nesem vám noviny

Writer of Lyrics Tomáš Bečák
Singer sbor

Lví silou, vzletem sokolím

Song Composer František Josef Pelz
Writer of Lyrics František Josef Pelz
Singer sbor

Budujeme /Teď, když máme, co jsme chtěli/

Song Composer Václav Dobiáš
Writer of Lyrics František Halas
Singer sbor

Production info

Original Title

Ohlédnutí

Czech Title

Ohlédnutí

English Title

Looking Back

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama, psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1968

Production Year

1968

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 22 December 1967
technical Screenplay approved 11 March 1968
start of filming 1 April 1968
end of filming 8 July 1968
the first film copy approved 15 October 1968
projection approval 14 November 1968
withdrawal from distribution 31 August 1971

Premiere

premiere 3 January 1969 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 16 January 1969 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Paříž /2 týdny/, Praha)

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šebor – Bor, Vladimír Bor (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Jiří Šebor (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny), Tvůrčí skupina Novotný – Kubala, Bedřich Kubala (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Ladislav Novotný (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

92 min

Original length in metres

2 593 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

Event: Ceny Trilobit 1968

1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiřina Třebická

Vítěz

Event: Umělecká soutěž k 50. výročí vzniku Československa a 70. výročí československé kinematografie o nejlepší scénář

1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Antonín Máša

Vítěz

Event: Umělecká soutěž k 50. výročí vzniku Československa a 70. výročí československé kinematografie o nejlepší scénář

1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Milena Honzíková