The Route

Country

Czechoslovakia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Copyright

1978

Production year

1978

Premiere

23 February 1979

Runtime

88 min

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Trasa

Czech title

Trasa

English title

The Route

Co-production title

Trassa

Summary

Partly conceived as propaganda projects by the former RVHP (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), a slew of coproduced features appeared in the late 1970s and early 80s. Among them was Trasa (The Route, 1978), made by the Soviet directors Anatoly Vechotko and Natalie Troschenko. The protagonists of the feature are test drivers at the Kopřivnice automobile factory who try out Tatra 148 trucks in the extreme, frozen conditions of Siberia. A group of hardened men must face the challenges of both the weather and each other. Energetic driver Karel Vojta (Jan Kanyza) even finds love in Siberia but when chasing his dreams he is confronted by the former husband of beautiful doctor Rita and his fate takes a cruel turn. Despite all the drama, the collective of Czech and Soviet specialists still manage to find a mechanical flaw in the trucks prohibiting their use in the construction of an oil pipeline.

Synopsis

Kopřivnice Tatra truck company drivers testing new trucks have to leave for North Siberia. The Tatra trucks, performing well in Czechoslovakia, break down in frosty Siberia. The group is led by an experienced driver Šembera. The young men cope differently with the severe conditions, one of them, Sláveček Žlabíček, is even recommended to leave for home and he does so. Karel Vojta is a beau of the group. Wherever he comes, he has girlfriend. Right after the arrival at the station he notices a young doctor Rita. Karel starts to court her, though he has a serious rival, Rita's ex-husband who is still in love with her. The initial Karel's flirt turns in a real love. Karel adapts well to the natural conditions and is doing well at work, too. He comes to visit Rita in his leisure time. One night, the doctor is called to assist in a serious injury at a three-hour-distant place. She has a car crash and dies in fire in an ambulance. Karel and her ex-husband Arkadij only helplessly watch the flames causing the tragedy. The Czech drivers' stay is coming to the end. During the several months they revealed the weak spots in the truck construction and improved the truck to be suitable for Siberia. The Czechs part with their new friends and look forward to their homes. Only Karel and Arkadij do not talk, they, united, recall the beloved woman.

Note

At the beginning the role of Karel´s mother was performed by Slávka Budínová, but she quitted.

Cast

Jan Kanyza

řidič Karel Vojta

Valentina Šendrikova

Voice by Jorga Kotrbová
MUDr. Margarita Alexandrovna zvaná Rita

Boris Ščerbakov

Voice by Miroslav Moravec
Arkadij Vojvodin, Ritin bývalý muž

Anatolij Solonicyn

Voice by František Vicena
Lev Nikolajevič Slivin

Viktor Gogolev

Voice by Otakar Brousek
Alexandr Alexandrovič Borisov

Jevgenij Leonov-Gladyšev

Voice by Jiří Novotný
řidič Míša

Vladimír Ráž

Josef Vendler

Vítězslav Jandák

řidič Sláveček Žlabíček

Jan Pohan

řidič Šembera

Jan Krafka

řidič Lukeš

Viktor Iljičov

Voice by Vilém Besser
řidič Viktor

Tomáš Sedláček

mladý konstruktér

Jiří Lír

inženýr

Žofie Veselá

zdravotní sestra

Olga Blechová

prodavačka

Jarmila Smejkalová

Karlova matka

Nina Ruslanova

Voice by Simona Stašová
koordinátorka trasy

Bohumil Švarc

hlavní inženýr podniku Tatra

Dušan Kuric

řidič Tatry

Milan Pěkný

řidič Tatry

Ľudovít Sleš

řidič Tatry

Pavel Kašlakov

Voice by Miroslav Zounar
inspektor

Alexandr Anisimov

Ljudmila Firsova

M. Děmiděnko

E. Filizi

Viktor Těrechov

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Vladimír Zelenka, Valerij Byčenkov

Assistant Director

I. Močalova, L. Berger, Jurij Nazarenko, Petr Makovička

Director of Photography

Eduard Rozovskij

Second Unit Photography

Sergej Dvorcov, Antonín Holub

Camera Operator

Jiří Ondráček, T. Pljusnina

Assistent Production Designer

Michal Krška

Set Designer

Josef Müller, Jan Petrů, Jelizaveta Sokolova

Film Editor

Isolda Golovko

Sound Designer

Grigorij Elbert

Special Effects

Dmitrij Šulkin, Jurij Verevkin

Production Manager

Jaromír Lukáš, Georgij Gurov

Unit Production Manager

Vasilij Pljuščaj, Jaroslav Vlk, Igor Kolobov, Michail Gerasimov, Milana Melcerová

Unit Production Manager

Dagmar Pitráková

Consultant

dr. Jaromír Vlašimský

Cooperation

Jana Zavázalová (klapka), Jan Kuděla (fotograf), E. Martanova, T. Prokofjeva, L. Škede

Dialogues of Czech version

K. M. Walló

Direction of Czech version

K. M. Walló

Music

Music Composed by

Igor Cvetkov

Music Performed by

Symfonický orchestr Leningradského akademického malého divadla (Music Conducted by Jurij Bogdanov)

Songs

Sněgami, bolšimi sněgami

Singer sbor

Těžko se zpívá

Singer Jan Kanyza

Production info

Original Title

Trasa

Czech Title

Trasa

English Title

The Route

Co-production Title

Trassa

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Copyright

1978

Production Year

1978

Production specifications

withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1986

Premiere

premiere 22 February 1979 /suitable for youths/ (kino Pasáž, Praha)
premiere 23 February 1979 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Miloše Brože, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

88 min

Original length in metres

2 525 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, Russian

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 17. festival českých a slovenských filmů Hradec Králové

1979
Hradec Králové / Czechoslovakia