Our Crazy Family

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1968

Production year

1967

Premiere

7 November 1968

Runtime

74 min

Director

Jan Valášek, Karel Kachyňa (dokončení)

Category

film

Genre

comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Naše bláznivá rodina

Czech title

Naše bláznivá rodina

English title

Our Crazy Family

Working title

Ta naše bláznivá rodina

Summary

Apart from his more serious works (Kočár do Vídně [A Carriage Going to Vienna, 1966]; Noc nevěsty [The Nun’s Night, 1967]; Ucho [The Ear, 1970]), screenwriter Jan Procházka also tried his hand at the comedy genre. This 1968 film about the bespectacled Solnička family is told from the point of view of Jana, an accident-prone 12-year-old who has again landed herself in hospital. When she returns, she and her older sister Zuza realise that something has changed at home. They come to the conclusion that their parents are about to get divorced. Fortunately, the truth is a happy contrast: there’s going to be a new baby in the family. After director Jan Valášek’s untimely death, the film was completed by director Karel Kachyňa. A fast-paced and witty story, it stars child non-actors Bohumila Houdková and Jarmila Srbová alongside experienced actors (Jiřina Jirásková, Vladimír Menšík, Jiřina Šejbalová, Bohuš Záhorský), who were even engaged for the smaller parts.

Synopsis

Everybody wears glasses in the family of twelve-year old Jana, and everybody is also quite mad. Jana often has bad luck – one time she breaks her arm, another time her leg or something else. The family always visits her in the hospital, and when the girl returns home, there are always many gifts waiting for her. Upon her most recent return, Jana notices that things are out of tune between the parents and that father does not sleep with mother in the bedroom. She reveals to her older sister Zuza her worries that their parents want to get divorced. Both girls begin to act immediately, trying to find out first if the parents have someone else. The first investigation shows that the parents do not have anybody. That is worth a great celebration, to which their grandmother brings her brand new groom. But when daddy unexpectedly produces tickets to the circus, the joy is over - for, according to the experience of other children, the parents always begin with the circus, then buy ice cream for the kids and eventually take them for a boat ride to announce their divorce. It seems that the parents of Jana and Zuza are following exactly this scenario. The girls are sad but everything changes in an instant when their puzzled daddy announces that they will have another baby. The boisterous celebrations result in an involuntary bath under a weir, where Jana ends up with another fractured bone.

Note

The director, Jan Valášek, died on the 27th of January 1968 while finishing work on the film, which was consequently finished by Karel Kachyňa. The opening titles of the film, however, present only the name of Jan Valášek.

Film online

Cast

Bohumila Houdková

Jana Solničková

Jarmila Srbová

Zuza, starší sestra Jany

Jiřina Jirásková

maminka Solničková

Vladimír Menšík

tatínek Luděk Solnička

Jiřina Šejbalová

Jedličková, babička Solničkových

Bohuš Záhorský

zelinář Skoumal, babiččin ženich

Josef Bláha

primář

Karel Urbánek

soused Mašát

Zdeněk Hodr

učitel matematiky

Jana Prachařová

učitelka dějepisu

Karel Augusta

příslušník VB

Dagmar Dvořáčková

krásná dívka

Gustav Hrdlička

divák v kině

Jiřina Bílá

zmrzlinářka

Josef Roubíček

žák Růžička

Michal Pospíšil (2)

chlapeček s pistolkou

Alena Kreuzmannová

zdravotní sestra

Karolina Slunéčková

zdravotní sestra

Jiří Růžička

Janin spolužák

Jan Kraus

kluk v telefonní budce

H. Rivinková

artistka

J. Janečková

žena na ulici

Crew and creators

Director

Jan Valášek, Karel Kachyňa (dokončení)

Assistant Director

Stanislava Hutková

Screenstory

Jan Procházka

Screenplay

Jan Procházka

Shooting Script

Jan Valášek

Director of Photography

Jan Stallich

Second Unit Photography

Stanislav Kautský

Production Designer

Vladimír Labský

Assistent Production Designer

Aleš Voleman

Set Designer

Vladimír Mácha

Make-Up Artist

Miloslav Koubek

Sound Designer

Jiří Lenoch

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Jaroslav Kučera

Unit Production Manager

Hubert Novotný, Zdeňka Černá

Cooperation

Antonín Stránský (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Miloš Vacek

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Production info

Original Title

Naše bláznivá rodina

Czech Title

Naše bláznivá rodina

English Title

Our Crazy Family

Working Title

Ta naše bláznivá rodina

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1968

Production Year

1967

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 22 May 1967
technical Screenplay approved 10 July 1967
start of filming 2 August 1967
end of filming 30 September 1967
the first film copy approved 16 August 1968
projection approval 30 August 1968
withdrawal from distribution 31 August 1976

Premiere

premiere 31 October 1968 /suitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /2 týdny/, Klub /1 týden od 21. 11./ a Městská knihovna /1 týden od 21. 11./, Praha)
premiere 7 November 1968 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

74 min

Original length in metres

2 091 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66, 1:2,35

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech