The Train to the Heaven Station

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1972

Production year

1971—1972

Premiere

1 December 1972

Runtime

80 min

Category

film

Genre

ballad

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Vlak do stanice Nebe

Czech title

Vlak do stanice Nebe

English title

The Train to the Heaven Station

Summary

Experienced director Karel Kachyňa in 1972 shot another film in which a child hero is set against the epoch of the Second World War, this time based on a theme and screenplay by Oto Hofman. Kachyňa first offered the public an account of the war as seen through the eyes of children in the drama Práče (Slinger, 1960), and it was a theme he also revisited in Ať žije republika (Long Live the Republic!, 1965) and Smrt krásných srnců (Death of the Beautiful Deer, 1986). The hero of the poetic drama is little Dáša, who is sent by her mother to live with her grandfather in the Beskid Mountains to save her from the ever more frequent air raids on Prague. The girl soon befriends local children. When the nearby village is occupied by German soldiers, Dáša and her friend Franta decide to act. Their naïve courage inspires the adults to fight… Kachyňa also cast the leading actress, Zdeňka Smrčová, in his next feature films Pavlínka (Pauline, 1974), Čekání na déšť (Waiting for the Rain, 1978) and Láska mezi kapkami deště (Love between the Raindrops, 1979).

Synopsis

It is the year 1944. The air attacks on Prague are more and more frequent and thus Mrs Havelková sends her daughter to a remote house in the mountains, where Dáša's grandfather, Baudyš, lives. The settlement is called Cloud and its sole connection to the rest of the world represents a small railway line built for transporting of wood. Cloud is the last but one stop which is only followed by the terminus called Nebe [Heaven]. Apart from wood, the railway also transports children to school. Dáša is quick to make friends among boys and girls and she gets used to her grandfather too, especially when he makes a beautiful wooden palace for her pet white mice. Together with all her classmates, Dáša has to undergo a humiliating procedure of hair debugging. Franta, a son of a locomotive fireman, is the greatest admirer of the city girl. He secretly borrows a locomotive and comes to pick her up at Cloud. The trip ends in trouble as the train was supposed to take a wedding party to the church. After being punished by his father, Franta decides to run away and join a group of partisans, Dáša decides to join him. The village and the railway is occupied by the German soldiers, the boiler-room is used as the storage of ammunition. Franta suggests to Baudyš a plan of capturing the ammunition, but the old man refuses him. Franta and Dáša decide to take the action on their own. They break into the boiler room, heat up the engine and break through the guards. Then they are joined by Baudyš and the partisans. Dáša suffers a light injury. In spring 1945 the war ends. Dáša returns to Prague, leaving the mountains with her grandfather, her devoted Franta and a part of her childhood.

Film online

Cast

Josef Koza

děda Baudyš

Bořivoj Navrátil

ředitel lesní správ Kincl

Martin Štěpánek

lékař partyzán

Zdenka Smrčková

Dáša Havelková, Baudyšova vnučka

Michal Vavruša

Franta Kouba

Ivan Palúch

Voice by Petr Štěpánek
strojvůdce Šrámek

Hana Čížková

Šrámkova nevěsta

Jana Gýrová

Věra, matka Dáši

Zuzana Fišerová

Bláža Sehnalová

Jaroslava Vlášková

Jurzová

Ivana Kišová

Nováková

Stanislav Pilman

Rudolfek Kincl

Josef Konzal

Kocián, bratr nevěsty

Helena Machovcová

Hádková

Jaroslava Horáková

Horáková

Jitka Jirkalová

Stratilová

Petra Kodýmová

Bendová

Štefan Kršňák

topič Kouba, Frantův otec

Antonín Kasper

Zrzek

Jan Košař

mrňous

Roman Tkačuk

mrňous

J. Burgel

muzikant

M. Dzuroška

muzikant

J. Feketik

muzikant

S. Katzor

muzikant

O. Macík

muzikant

A. Machaj

muzikant

P. Pivko

muzikant

M. Štrokolec

muzikant

J. Uličný

muzikant

D. Priechodský

kapelník

Slávka Hamouzová

sousedka na schodech

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Milada Mikešová

Assistant Director

Karel Brchel

Shooting Script

Karel Kachyňa

Director of Photography

Josef Illík

Second Unit Photography

Adolf Hejzlar

Production Designer

Oldřich Okáč

Assistent Production Designer

Václav Hlávka

Costume Designer

Theodor Pištěk ml.

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Vilemína Binterová

Sound Designer

Jiří Lenoch

Production Manager

Karel Vejřík

Unit Production Manager

Karel Škop, Rudolf Mos

Unit Production Manager

Jaroslava Semrádová

Consultant

MVDr. Jiří Joachymstál, Ľudovít Gerek, pplk. Milan Rešl, Karel Zeithammer

Cooperation

Jaroslava Sýkorová (klapka), Jindřich Panáček (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Zdeněk Liška

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Production info

Original Title

Vlak do stanice Nebe

Czech Title

Vlak do stanice Nebe

English Title

The Train to the Heaven Station

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

ballad

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1972

Production Year

1971—1972

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 9 June 1971
start of filming 10 August 1971
technical Screenplay approved 2 November 1971
end of filming 25 May 1972
projection approval 31 May 1972
withdrawal from distribution 3 October 1983

Premiere

gala premiere 9 November 1972 (České Budějovice)
premiere 9 November 1972 /suitable for youths/ (kino 64 U Hradeb, Praha)
premiere 1 December 1972 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Výrobní skupina Jiřího Šebora, Jiří Šebor (vedoucí výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

80 min

Original length in metres

2 246 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

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

Exhibition: 1. mezinárodní přehlídka dětského filmu konaná v rámci IV. mezinárodního filmového festivalu FEST ´74 Bělehrad

1974
Bělehrad / Serbia

Vítěz

Exhibition: 15. přehlídka avantgardních a neorealistických filmů Avellino

1974
Avellino / Italy

Vítěz

Festival: 13. festival filmů pro děti Gottwaldov

1973
Zlín / Czechoslovakia
Michal Vavruša

Vítěz

Festival: 13. festival filmů pro děti Gottwaldov

1973
Zlín / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Event: Prémie Českého literárního fondu za rok 1972

1973
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Ota Hofman

Vítěz

Festival: 13. festival filmů pro děti Gottwaldov

1973
Zlín / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Festival: 13. festival filmů pro děti Gottwaldov

1973
Zlín / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Exhibition: 4. přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří

1972
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Festival: 1. festival dětských filmů České Budějovice

1972
České Budějovice / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Exhibition: 4. přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří

1972
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia
Zdenka Smrčková

Vítěz

Exhibition: 4. přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov nad Ohří

1972
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia
Michal Vavruša