The Body of Diana

Country

Czechoslovakia, France

Copyright

1969

Production year

1968—1969

Premiere

14 November 1969

Runtime

98 min

Category

film

Genre

psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Tělo Diany

Czech title

Tělo Diany

English title

The Body of Diana

Co-production title

Le Corps de Diane

Summary

Popular French actress Jeanne Moreau starred in this 1969 love drama made by director Jean-Louis Richard in a coproduction with France. The feature film’s “international” plot sees French architect Julien arrive in Prague to draw inspiration from the theatre where the premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni opera took place in 1787 (the theatre in question is the Estates Theatre; it was known as Teatro di Praga at the time of the premiere). In Prague, Julien has a rendezvous with a former lover, the artist Diana. She accompanies him when he returns to France, something which distresses his present lover. Julien’s pathological jealousy and his reading of writings by Heinrich von Kleist result in a catastrophe… Charles Denner is Moreau’s acting partner in this almost forgotten love drama. Cameraman Miroslav Ondříček also contributed greatly to its making. A Czech-dubbed version of Tělo Diany (The Body of Diana) was overseen by Jiří Menzel.

Synopsis

Julien, a Parisian architect, searches for inspiration for the design of a new theatre in Besançon in the Prague theatre building where, many years ago, the premiere of Mozart's Don Giovanni was held. He arrives in Prague accompanied by his lover, Beatrice. In the theatre, a Parisien ballet group is just rehearsing a performance inspired by the work of Heinrich von Kleist. Julien recognizes the set designer, who is on stage with the dancers. Her name is Diana and he was very close to her years ago in Paris. Julien talks Diana into a walk through Prague and soon they become lovers again. Beatrice returns to Paris in disappointment, and equally disappointed is Diana's intimate girlfriend - dancer Genevieve. Upon the two new lovers' return to Paris, Diana moves in with Julien and later marries him. However, the marriage is constantly spoiled by the husband's pathological jealousy. Julien's design was not approved, either. The architect moreover got buried in Kleist's biography and is fascinated by the description of his suicide, preceded by the murder of his lover. Diana is forced to lie even about banal meetings. Julien, possessed by jealousy to the point of madness, decides to imitate Kleist's act. He returns to the Bohemia with Diana, to places where they used to be happy. The woman senses danger, and upon reading Julien's good-bye letter, which was handed to her by a chambermaid by mistake, is watchful. On their walk, she pushes Julien away in self-defence and the man kills himself in the fall from a rock.

Cast

Jeanne Moreau

Voice by Jaroslava Adamová
výtvarnice Diana Vallier

Charles Denner

Voice by Jan Tříska
architekt Julien

Elisabeth Wiener

Voice by Jana Drbohlavová
Beatrice, Julienova sekretářka a milenka

Joëlle Latour

Voice by Milena Dvorská
Genevi‡va

Henri-Jacques Huet

Voice by Josef Langmiler
choreograf Henri Morel

Libuše Králová

tanečnice

James Sparow

Voice by Václav Neckář
tanečník

Joan Settin

tanečnice

Ariane Cortesse

tanečnice

Lidia Campo-Longhi

tanečnice

Dominique Robier

tanečnice

Carolyne Page

tanečnice

Jaroslav Kříž

ředitel divadla

Claudi Niubó

pařížský taxíkář

Milena Jandová

tlumočnice

Olga Buzková

tanečnice

Marta Cvejnová

tanečnice

Silvia Jarošová

tanečnice

Rozina Kamburová

tanečnice

Jana Klocová

tanečnice

Věra Koželuhová

tanečnice

Nicole Helen Nogaret

tanečnice

Helena Richterová

tanečnice

Markéta Sodomková

tanečnice

Marcela Tomaierová

tanečnice

K. Volková

tanečnice

Dubbing

Jiří Cimický

hlas mladíka v projekční kanceláři

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Claudi Niubó, Miloš Kohout

Assistant Director

Stanislava Hutková

Based on

Francoise Nourissier (Tělo Diany /Le Corps de Diane/ – román)

Director of Photography

Miroslav Ondříček

Second Unit Photography

Eduard Kadeřábek

Camera Operator

Jiří Kučera

Production Designer

Jean-Claude Vignes

Assistent Production Designer

Jan Kňákal

Art Director

Jindřich Goetz

Set Designer

Ivo Černý, Miloš Osvald, Jiří Rulík

Film Editor

Josef Valušiak

Assistant Film Editor

Marie Tillerová, Milada Malínská

Sound Designer

Jiří Pavlík

Production Manager

Karel Kochman

Unit Production Manager

Richard Němec, Artur Stacha

Unit Production Manager

Milena Jandová

Cooperation

Jitka Faktorová (klapka), Karel Ješátko (fotograf), Miloslav Mirvald (fotograf)

Translation of Czech version

Ludmila Prousková

Dialogues of Czech version

Vincenc Novotný

Direction of Czech version

Jiří Menzel

Music

Music Composed by

Antoine Duhamel

Choreographer

Pavel Šmok

Danced by

Studio Balet Praha

Production info

Original Title

Tělo Diany

Czech Title

Tělo Diany

English Title

The Body of Diana

Co-production Title

Le Corps de Diane

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, France

Copyright

1969

Production Year

1968—1969

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 15 August 1968
start of filming 21 October 1968
end of filming 22 January 1969
projection approval 21 April 1969
the first film copy approved 24 July 1969
withdrawal from distribution 26 October 1972

Premiere

premiere 14 November 1969 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 20 November 1969 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Paříž /5 týdnů/, Praha)

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Juráček – Kučera, Pavel Juráček (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Jaroslav Kučera (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

98 min

Original length in metres

2 766 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech