Suspicion

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1972

Production year

1972

Premiere

28 December 1973

Runtime

105 min

Category

film

Genre

drama, crime, psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Podezření

Czech title

Podezření

English title

Suspicion

Working title

Klára

Summary

The Czechoslovakian censor was not slow to stir when it came to Jewish topics in newly produced films. Given this daunting difficulty, writer and director Jiří Krejčík omitted some motifs when it came to transferring to film Píseň Juditina (Judith´s song), a 1969 detective novel by Pavel Dejl (the artist’s pseudonym of Pavel Hejcman), which features a Jewish organisation pursuing Nazi criminals. The trade-off meant Krejčík’s 1972 motion picture, Podezření (Suspicion), avoided a production ban. But even this compromise did not allow him to continue unhindered in his filmmaking amid the restrictive era of “normalisation”. Podezření’s protagonist Klára Bornová is traumatised by her war experiences. She does not even feel safe as the wife of a Prague diplomat. And, as it happens, with justification, her husband is murdered by former Nazis. Bornová recognises one of them as Gill, the commander of the Dutch concentration camp. Slovak television announcer Jarmila Koštová stars in this improbable tale.

Synopsis

Klára Born has mixed feelings as she follows her husband, a diplomat, to his new assignment in Prague. She herself spent a happy childhood in the city, but during the Second World War her whole family was sent to the concentration camp by Eindhoven in Holland, and she was the only one who returned alive. Klára doesn't feel comfortable in the villa from which Born's predecessor Morton vanished in unexplained circumstances. At a large reception the woman meets a number of diplomats, among them the mysterious Gill. In the night Klára has her old recurrent dream. She is back in Eidhoven, but this time guests from the reception are there in Nazi uniforms. Gill shows great interest in her dream and wartime experiences. One evening Born leaves the house with a gun and money and is never seen again. Investigation yields no results. The embassy is reticent and the Czechoslovak Secret Police are not allowed to interrogate diplomats. It is only when Klára becomes a private person that Captain Chrástek can start a search. He is soon successful. He discovers that Born and Morton were murdered, exposes the murderers, too, and establishes the motive: both men were on the track of a German war criminal that is clearly living in Prague. Klára uncovers the truth as well. On the basis of Morton's book, photographs from the reception and reports from abroad, she recognizes Gill as the commander of the holland concentartion camp. When he tries to kill her, she shoots him dead.

Note

Fears that the film would be banned led to the original scenario being stripped of all Jewish themes – the origin of the characters and organizations searching for Nazi criminals.

Cast

Jarmila Košťová

Klára Bornová rozená Janotová

Václav Voska

diplomat Francis Gill

Ladislav Chudík

diplomat Dr. Jacques Born, Klářin manžel

Radoslav Brzobohatý

kriminalista kapitán Chrástek

Jiří Adamíra

Dr. Philip Milner, první tajemník ambasády

Miroslav Macháček

konzul Robert Carier

Vladimír Šmeral

profesor Josef Trojan

Jarmila Orlová

Voice by Libuše Švormová
Irma, Milnerova žena

Rudolf Jelínek

poručík Mareček

Valerie Chmelová

Marie, komorná u Bornů

Slávka Budínová

Karla Hofová

Radovan Lukavský

plukovník Havlíček

Lubor Tokoš

pohřební řečník Vaclík

Vladimír Stach

lékař-prosektor

Eva Bezděková

cizinka v letadle

Vladimír Linka

řidič Janečka zvaný Leopold

Alena Motyčková

Voice by Božidara Turzonovová
ošetřovatelka

Jan Prokeš

Voice by Lubor Tokoš
zřízenec prosektury

Kateřina Frýbová

prodavačka v bufetu/žena diplomata

Božidara Turzonovová

tuzexová dívka

Taťána Dvořáčková

letuška

Jindřich Hinke

diplomat na recepci

Vilém Pruner

diplomat na recepci

Jiří Zahrádka

diplomat na recepci

Zdenka Borovičková

manželka diplomata

Jitka Cerhová

manželka diplomata

Jana Drastíková

manželka diplomata

Olga Dudová

manželka diplomata

Alena Janošková

manželka diplomata

Julie Jenšíková

manželka diplomata

Yvonne Kodoňová

manželka diplomata

Daniela Pokorná

manželka diplomata

Hana Růžičková

manželka diplomata

Jarmila Hradová

cizinka na letišti

Hana Šilhánková

cizinka na letišti

Oldřich Peckiewicz

člen komorního kvarteta

Jiří Ptáčník

člen komorního kvarteta

Jan Štros

člen komorního kvarteta

Adolf Švorc

člen komorního kvarteta

Eduard Pavlíček

úředník ministerstava zahraničí

Dušan Konečný

velvyslanec

Eva Fiedlerová

manželka velvyslance

Jiřina Krejčíková

mladá žena na recepci

Karel Kvěch

řidič u Bornů

Bohumír Muchka

ceremoniář

Doris Papoušková

tanečnice na recepci

Dušan Konečný

tanečník na recepci

Václav Smetáček

dirigent Národního divadla

Milada Karasová

žena na recepci

Zdeněk Virt

fotoreportér na recepci

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Zeno Dostál

Assistant Director

Jiří Býček

Screenstory

Pavel Dejl

Based on

Pavel Hejcman (Píseň Juditina – detektivní román)

Shooting Script

Jiří Krejčík

Director of Photography

Jan Kališ

Second Unit Photography

Rudolf Holan

Camera Operator

Jan Hanzal

Production Designer

Zbyněk Hloch

Assistent Production Designer

Jiří Matolín

Set Designer

Jaromír Dědek, Václav Kozel, Vladimír Mácha

Costume Designer

Zdena Bauerová

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Jitka Šulcová

Sound Designer

Ladislav Hausdorf

Production Manager

František Milič

Unit Production Manager

Václav Havlík, Eva Kučerová

Unit Production Manager

Tomáš Baloun

Cooperation

Jindřiška Novotná (klapka), Zdeněk Dukát (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Zdeněk Liška

Selected Music

Antonín Dvořák (Smyčcový kvartet F dur Americký)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Orchestr Václava Hybše

Choreographer

Karel Bednář

Songs

Čechy krásné, Čechy mé

Song Composer Josef Leopold Zvonař

Production info

Original Title

Podezření

Czech Title

Podezření

English Title

Suspicion

Working Title

Klára

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama, crime, psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1972

Production Year

1972

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 28 October 1971
technical Screenplay approved 1 March 1972
start of filming 1 December 1972
end of filming 8 December 1972
projection approval 22 December 1972
withdrawal from distribution 22 February 1974

Premiere

premiere 6 December 1973 /suitable for youths/ (kino Lucerna, Praha)
premiere 28 December 1973 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Karla Copa, Karel Cop (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

105 min

Original length in metres

2 965 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, French

Subtitles languages

Czech

Opening/End credits languages

Czech