The Return

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1972

Production year

1972

Premiere

1 September 1972

Runtime

95 min

Category

film

Genre

psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Návraty

Czech title

Návraty

English title

The Return

Summary

During the “normalisation” era of the 1970s, the outstanding actor Petr Čepek focused primarily on theatre and television work. The 1972 psychological drama Návraty (The Return), directed by Václav Matějka, is one of the few exceptions. The protagonist, Slávek Vondra, is an indecisive, morally corrupt intellectual, and a poser who becomes a victim of his own inflated ambitions. His ex-wife, medical nurse Tereza (Jana Gýrová), still holds some affection for him and tries to stay in touch with him, for the sake of their little son; but Slávek’s actions finally make her see the light. At first glance, the film seems to differ from Matějka’s other, politically conformist works; in actuality, it is a pointed criticism of intellectuals who were active in the liberal 1960s and refused to support the new regime.

Synopsis

Tereza lives alone with her young son Michal. With him and her former husband Slávek, she visits Slávek's mother, from whom they are hidding their divorce. Tereza is not happy about the arrangement, but she still loves Slávek and canoot refuse him the favour. After the return, Slávek goes back to the attractive fashion designer Máša with whom he now lives, and who admires him as the young man who has written a book and is about to write another. In fact, Slávek has prematurely left the District National Committee to avoid defending a colleague and becoming involved in politics. He is not happy with his work as a bookstore manager. Tereza is seeing the violinist František, who loves her. Slávek and Máša go to a rehearsal of an amateur theatre company. Slávek has persuaded them to work on Chekhov's Ivanov. Now he is overly critical of the performance and the acting and gets into a conflict with everyone. Máša, whom he was about to marry, dies in a car accident. Her father throws Slávek out of her flat. Devastated Slávek staggers back to Tereza in the middle of night and persuades her to take him back. Tereza breaks up with František; after all, she has a child with Slávek. But Slávek hasn't changed at all. He continues to run away from responsibility and longs to go to a place where nobody knows him. He doen't care about Tereza's nursing job, or about her desires and plans. Their relationship becomes strained again. Tereza slowly loses all respect for Slávek. She becomes aware that Michal is being affected by his parents' tense relationship and decides to separate from Slávek for good.

Cast

Jana Gýrová

zdravotní sestra Tereza

Petr Čepek

Miroslav Vondra zvaný Slávek, Terezin bývalý manžel

Tomáš Muchka

Michal, Terezin a Slávkův synek

Jarmila Krulišová

Slávkova matka

Rudolf Jelínek

houslař František Havel, Terezin přítel

Josef Somr

Pavel Kuneš, Slávkův přítel

Jana Dítětová

Mája, Kunešova žena

Bohuš Záhorský

MUDr. Ladman

Zuzana Kocúriková

Voice by Jana Andresíková
módní návrhářka Máša

Jan Vostrčil

Tonda Havel, Františkův otec

Josef Šebánek

oslavenec Josef, Tondův bratr

Míla Myslíková

Máňa, Josefova manželka

Václav Mareš

Petr, Slávkův bratr

Jana Březinová

Božka, Petrova žena

Karel Šebesta

předseda ONV Janík

Karolina Slunéčková

barmanka Bláňa

Jan Přeučil

ochotník Pavlíček hrající Ivanova

Stanislava Bartošová

ochotnice Lucie hrající Sašu

Lubor Tokoš

ochotník Tomášek hrající Lebeděva

Jana Andresíková

ochotnice Slávina hrající Sáru

Josef Kotapiš

ochotník Suchý hrající sluhu

Petr Patera

ochotník Luňák hrající Lvova

Zdena Burdová

ochotnice Marie hrající Marfu

Zdeněk Braunschläger

ochotník Bárta hrající Berkina

Emil Iserle

ochotník

Miroslav Nohýnek

režisér Král

Jindřiška Gabriela Preissová

ochotnice a pokladní

Jana Posseltová

inspicientka

Hana Kreihanslová

úřednice Tomková

Josef Chvalina

Mášin otec

Miluše Zoubková

prodavačka knih Jánská

Václav Vydra

nemluva Honza

Jan Víšek

lékař v nemocnici

Josef Kolb

pacient Mařák

Jaroslav Koc

harmonikář Tony

Radúz Chmelík

pracovník ONV Bláha

Vlasta Jelínková

babička rodičky Jarky

Dubbing

Miriam Kantorková

hlas účetní Zdeničky Hálové v telefonu

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Julius Matula

Assistant Director

Ivana Tokošová

Continuity

Věra Rathová

Screenstory

Václav Matějka

Shooting Script

Václav Matějka

Director of Photography

Andrej Barla

Second Unit Photography

Pavel Dosoudil

Camera Operator

Jiří Knotek

Production Designer

Jindřich Goetz

Assistent Production Designer

Vladimír Hovorka

Set Designer

Miroslav Balajka, Ivan Ernyei, R. Stehlíková

Costume Designer

Zdena Kadrnožková

Film Editor

Josef Valušiak

Sound Designer

František Fabián

Production Manager

Jiří Krejčí

Unit Production Manager

Josef Mojžíš, Věra Winkelhöferová

Unit Production Manager

Vlasta Mathauserová

Cooperation

Olga Hrčková (klapka), Miloš Schmiedberger (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Luboš Fišer

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Songs

Živijó, živijó

Singer sbor

Production info

Original Title

Návraty

Czech Title

Návraty

English Title

The Return

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1972

Production Year

1972

Production specifications

projection approval 28 February 1972
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1986

Premiere

premiere 31 August 1972 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Paříž, Praha)
premiere 1 September 1972 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Karla Copa, Karel Cop (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Výrobní skupina Jiřího Šebora, Jiří Šebor (vedoucí výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

95 min

Original length in metres

2 665 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: Prémie Českého literárního fondu za rok 1972

1973
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Václav Matějka