Many filmmakers have been drawn to the challenge of adapting Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century masterwork The Decameron. Screenwriter and director Jiří Krejčík attempted to couple one of the stories from The Decameron with one from The Heptameron, a later collection of works written by Marguerite of Navarre that was inspired by the great storyteller of the Italian Renaissance. The film Hry lásky šálivé (The Deluding Games of Love, 1971) thus comprises two stories, Arabský kůň (Arabian, 1971) and Náušnice (Earrings, 1971), two comical narratives about marital infidelity. In the first, a tight-fisted nobleman deservedly forfeits the fidelity of his beautiful wife. In the second, a pretty chambermaid scoops some valuable jewellery while a bored noble couple have marital issues. Krejčík’s legendary precision and craftsmanship produced a costume-and-comedy drama that won over audiences in the early stages of the post-1968 “normalisation” period with timeless entertainment. The film’s appeal could only be increased by the cast, led by Miloš Kopecký and Slávka Budínová.
Two short stories.
messer Francesco Vergellesi
Sandra, Francescova manželka
Voice by Eduard Cupák
Ricciardo Minutolo
císařský kurýr
komorná Bianca
klenotník
krejčí
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hrabě
hraběnka
komorná
sluha
Giovanni Boccaccio (Dekameron – povídka z knihy), Markéta Navarrská (Heptameron – povídka z knihy)
Jiří Promberger
Eva Truchlá (klapka), Zdeněk Dukát (fotograf)
Hry lásky šálivé
Hry lásky šálivé
The Deluding Games of Love
Nebe peklo ráj / Lásky hry šálivé
povídkový film
featuretheatrical distribution
historical, comedy, short-story, erotic
Czechoslovakia
1971
1970
literary Screenplay approved 15 April 1970
technical Screenplay approved 10 June 1970
start of filming 28 August 1970
end of filming 21 November 1970
the first film copy approved 15 April 1971
projection approval 05/1971
withdrawal from distribution 28 February 1985
festival premiere 10 June 1971 (22. filmový festival pracujících – léto ´71)
gala premiere 13 October 1971 (kino Sevastopol, Praha)
premiere 14 October 1971 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina Sevastopol, Flora, Orlík, Tatra a Mír, Praha)
premiere 22 October 1971 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
Dramaturgická skupina Vojtěcha Trapla, Vojtěch Trapl (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Výrobní skupina Ladislava Novotného, Ladislav Novotný (vedoucí výrobní skupiny)
feature film
111 min
3 150 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech