The Bride

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1970

Production year

1969—1970

Premiere

24 September 1970

Runtime

92 min

Category

film

Genre

tragicomedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Nevěsta

Czech title

Nevěsta

English title

The Bride

Summary

Stage and film actor, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist Jiří Suchý has been involved in a number of film productions during his career, but the tragicomedy Nevěsta (1970) is the only film he wrote and directed. As an auteur’s film, completed shortly before the onset of the “normalisation” period, it tells the story of a naïve young girl, Zdena (Marta Vančurová in one of her first roles), who decides to fulfill a prophecy of an amateur palmist (Eugen Jegorov) and find a husband. On her “quest”, she passes through various places and meets several men (Jaromír Hanzlík, Josef Dvořák, Jiří Novotný, and others), but none of them are Mr. Right... This surrealist, poetic and playful film is demonstrates Suchý’s multiple talents, but it has largely remained unnoticed by the mainstream audience.

Synopsis

The female employees of the poultry-processing factory find relief from their monotonous work in chatting about weddings and marriages. The very young Zdena, too, dreams about a white veil and an entourage of bridesmaids. On her return home from work, she runs into a peculiar man on an abandoned road who pertinaciously offers to read her palm for a few crowns to buy soup. His augury is rather usual – wealth and poverty, suffering and happiness. Then however, he declares that Zdena must marry exactly on 3 November of that year otherwise she will be unhappy. The girl mocks his words. The weird man then tells her that she is going to be attacked soon. He fulfils the prophecy himself by cutting through the little forest, knocking the girl to the ground and stealing her purse. The naive Zdena does not recognize him and begins to trust the augury, which has began to be fulfilled. She leaves home and tries to find a groom in the town. The writer Ondřej scares her away with his unrestrained fantasizing. Zdena accidentally gets into a modern villa where she becomes fond of handsome Ivan, but this relationship does not end well, either. Zdena works in a hotel as a chambermaid and publishes an ad in the Lonely Hearts column. She mistakenly addresses likeable Jan, but then has a date with the right person interested, Jiří. Jiří turns to be abnormal and Jana runs away from him to Jan. But she leaves him, too, since he cannot marry her in the given term. Later, Zdena again meets the weird stranger, who apologizes for the made-up augury. The girl still experiences her great wedding in a dream. In reality, however, she is sitting on a park bench, lonesome and pregnant.

Cast

Věra Křesadlová

herečka Marta Weisová

Josef Čáp

památkář Jan

Josef Dvořák

sběratel panenek Jiří

Eugen Jegorov

chiromant

František Pokorný

režisér Richard Klinger

Jaroslava Kratochvílová

Zdenina matka

Magda Křížková

Kateřina, Zdenina sestra

Petr Svojtka

David, Zdenin bratr

Helena Růžičková

pokojská Růžena

Miloš Čálek

profesor Vinkler

René Gabzdyl

výtvarník/herec

Richard Weber

dekadentní mladík

Jaroslav Neduha

vousatý filozofující student

Jana Rybová

Peggy

Jaroslav Čejka

Charles Chaplin

Karel Mareš

mistr v továrně Voráček

Jan Teplý

příslušník SNB

Karel Linc

příslušník SNB

Jiří Menzel

reportér při ukřižování

Věra Kalendová

dělnice Helena

Vladimír Zátka

kluk s pistolí

Jiřina Bílá

matka kluka s pistolí

Karel Fiala

řezník

Helena Bendová

Bečvářová

J. Blažek

intelektuál

Jakub Krejčí

nápadník Kateřiny

R. Neumanová

květinářka

Václav Halama

muž z lidu

Karel Hovorka

muž z lidu

Blažena Vernerová

sousedka/hysterická žena

V. Berousek

artista

J. Kočka

artista

Alena Motyčková

sousedka

Miloš Kurovský

výtvarník

Alois Plocek

vědec

Svatopluk Sova

vědec

A. Glückselig

vědec

Ivan Englich

vědec

Pavel Procházka

klavírista

Rudolf Růžička (hudebník)

hudebník

František Sojka

hudebník

Miloš Vychytil

hudebník

Tomáš Zemek

hudebník

Pavel Fiala (2)

hudebník-bubeník

Jiří Ornest

mladík na večírku

Zuzana Stirská

turistka/páže

M. Svoboda

vědec

Václav Vodák

lékař kardiolog

Elena Lindauerová

tanečnice

Magdalena Čechová

tanečnice

M. Zimová

tanečnice

J. Maršalová

tanečnice

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Zdena Pavlátová

Assistant Director

Ivana Skabranská

Screenstory

Jiří Suchý

Screenplay

Jiří Suchý

Director of Photography

Jiří Macháně

Camera Operator

Milan Kopecký

Production Designer

Zbyněk Hloch

Set Designer

Rudolf Beneš, Václav Kozel, Vladimír Mácha

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Jitka Šulcová

Sound Designer

Jiří Pavlík

Production Manager

Karel Kochman

Unit Production Manager

Karel Škop, Jaroslav Koucký

Cooperation

Jana Smrčinová (klapka), Miroslav Pešan (fotograf)

Music

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Milivoj Uzelac), Orchestr divadla Semafor (Music Conducted by Ferdinand Havlík)

Songs

Družiček bělostný šik

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří Suchý

Osmého dne stvořil Pánbůh

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří Suchý

Vylítla slepice

Song Composer Ferdinand Havlík
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří Suchý

Každý ráno na piáno

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer sbor

Kdo by se bál

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Věra Křesadlová

Možná, že právě ten

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Naďa UrbánkováJiří Suchý

Jednoho dne spadlo listí

Song Composer Ferdinand Havlík
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří Suchý

Svatba

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří Suchý

Řada pouličních světel

Song Composer Ferdinand Havlík
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří Suchý

Honky tonky blues

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý

Ještě je čas

Song Composer Ferdinand Havlík
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý

Slunce zhaslo dojetím

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý

Production info

Original Title

Nevěsta

Czech Title

Nevěsta

English Title

The Bride

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

tragicomedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1970

Production Year

1969—1970

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 29 April 1969
technical Screenplay approved 20 August 1969
start of filming 2 September 1969
end of filming 27 March 1970
the first film copy approved 29 May 1970
projection approval 9 June 1970
withdrawal from distribution 30 November 1993

Premiere

premiere 24 September 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Paříž /3 týdny/ a Flora /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 25 September 1970 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní /omezená distribuce/)
renewed premiere 18 January 2001 /suitable for all ages/

Distribution slogan

A sad comedy about a girl getting married. (1970) / Project 100 – 2001. (2001)

Studio

Hostivař

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1970), Asociace českých filmových klubů (obnovená 2001 /Projekt 100 – 2001/)

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Juráček – Kučera, Pavel Juráček (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Jaroslav Kučera (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny), Výrobní skupina Ericha Švabíka (dokončení), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

92 min

Original length in metres

2 611 meters

Distribution carrier

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