In 1978, director Juraj Herz enriched the contemporary genre scene with two fairytale horror films – Deváté srdce (The Ninth Heart) and Panna a netvor (The Virgin and the Monster). Following his highly stylised features of the 1960s, the filmmaker was forced to express himself in terms of plain realism. So within his filmography, these two films constitute his return to the expressive style of Spalovač mrtvol (The Cremator, 1968), Petrolejové lampy (Oil Lamps, 1971) and Morgiana (Morgiana, 1972). While Deváté srdce was based on an original theme, the story of Panna a netvor is an adaptation of classic material, respectively František Hrubín’s play for the theatre inspired by the fairytale story of Beauty and the Beast. Otta Hofan adapted Hrubín’s text for the film, but Panna a netvor is most of all a demonstration of the director’s ability to construct a fanciful, poetically sombre and gloomy atmosphere. For financial reasons, Panna a netvor was shot in the same studio setting as Deváté srdce (Architect Vladimír Labský created multifunctional scenery in Barrandov’s Studio no. 6. After some alterations, it was also used for the features Tajemství ocelového města (The Secret of the Steel Town, 1978) and Kočičí princ (Cat Prince, 1979). Deváté srdce and Panna a netvor even shared the same budget. Despite the fact that some of the personnel worked on both features (for instance, cameraman Jiří Macháně and composer Petr Hapka), the horror story based on Hrubín’s work offers quite a different ambience. While Deváté srdce’s visual conception was created in collaboration with Jan and Eva Švankmajer, thanks to the artists Josef and Olga Vyleťal Panna a netvor offers a more “natural” impression… At the chateau in the deep woods, the heroine of the narration, the beautiful, impoverished daughter of a merchant, Julie (Zdena Studénková), experiences both a nightmarish and affectionate relationship with the mysterious beast. Despite the fact that the strange, cursed host eventually turns into a handsome prince, the beast has become the feature’s most impressive attraction. Herz rejected the canonical “lion” stylisation and instead created a bird monster, whose inhuman and beastly movements and gestures made it all the more convincing given the artistic ability of the motion picture’s big star, the dancer Vlastimil Harapes.
Wagons laden with luxury goods get lost in the mist and stray into a thick forest. The couriers set fire to the dense undergrowth to burn a way through, but the ensuing fire and the terror of the horses just completes the destruction. The merchant has invested all his property in the goods as well as money borrowed from the fiancés of his two eldest daughters – a goldsmith and a spice dealer. The fiancés call off the wedding and after his belongings have been auctioned the merchant is left with nothing but an empty house and a portrait of his second wife, the mother of his youngest daughter Julie, known as Kráska [Beauty]. The merchant sets off with a heavy heart to sell the valuable painting. He gets lost and takes refuge in a half-ruined chateau in the middle of the forest. He falls asleep in his exhaustion and in the morning finds the picture has gone and has been replaced by a great quantity of money and jewels. When he plucks a rose, the lord of the chateau appears - a monster resembling a giant bird of prey. The monster spares the merchant's life, but on condition that the man returns himself or one of his daughters. Only Kráska is willing to save her father. At the chateau she is given plenty of food and every kind of care. The monster talks to her from a hiding place, for although he is enchanted with her appearance and sunny nature, he doesn't want her to see him. The ageing sisters meanwhile marry two aristocratic fops and set to plundering their father's property. Love changes the monster's claws into human hands. Julie catches sight of his form and in her horror rejects his declaration of love. With the monster's permission, she then goes back to her father, but when the girl realizes that the monster, whom at heart she loves, will die without her, she returns to the castle. She assures the dying monster of her love and he is transformed into the handsome prince that she has seen before in her dreams.
The film was budgeted together with a film The Ninth Heart, and the two films also shared sets. In the studio No. 6 in the Barrandov Studios, architect Labský created a multi-functional set that was further adapted and used for the filming of The Ninth Heart, Mystery of the Iron City and Cat Prince.
Voice by Taťjana Medvecká
Julie zvaná Kráska
Voice by Jiří Zahajský
netvor, pán zámku
kupec, otec dívek
Gábinka, Juliina sestra
Voice by Jorga Kotrbová
Málinka, Juliina sestra
hrabátko, manžel Gábinky
knížátko, manžel Málinky
děvečka
kořenkář, ženich Gábinky
zlatník, ženich Málinky
jezdec
jezdec
skřet
právník
řezník
řezník
měšťan
měšťan
služebná
ebenový mouřenín
ebenový mouřenín
ebenový mouřenín
ebenový mouřenín
pacholek
pacholek
pacholek
šermíř
šermíř
šermíř
šermíř
šermíř
tanečník
tanečnice
tanečník
tanečnice
tanečník
tanečník
tanečnice
tanečník
tanečnice
tanečnice
tanečnice
tanečník
tanečník
tanečnice
tanečník
tanečnice
tanečník
tanečník
dubl za Vlastimila Harapese
dubl za Jana Přeučila
šermíři
Kateřina Lukášová
František Hrubín (Kráska a zvíře – divadelní hra)
Josef Vyleťal, Olga Vyleťalová
Miroslav Buberle, Karel Karas, Jaroslav Lehman, Ladislav Rada, Josef Pavlík
Josef Vyleťal, Olga Vyleťalová
Věra Lukášová, Petr Prejda
Jiřina Vaňková
Eliška Moulisová (klapka), Karel Ješátko (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Song Composer Petr Hapka
Writer of Lyrics František Hrubín
Singer sbor
Panna a netvor
Panna a netvor
The Virgin and the Monster
Kráska a zvíře
film
featuretheatrical distribution
horror, fairytale
Czechoslovakia
1978
1977—1978
literary Screenplay approved 31 March 1976
start of filming 2 May 1977
technical Screenplay approved 5 July 1977
end of filming 21 July 1978
projection approval 24 July 1978
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1995
premiere 2 March 1979 /suitable for youths/
Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)
feature film
84 min
2 439 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,66
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Festival: 2. mezinárodní festival fantastických filmů Fantasporto
1982
Porto / Portugal
Juraj Herz
Festival: Mezinárodní filmový festival Cádiz
1980
Cádiz / Spain
Festival: 17. festival českých a slovenských filmů Hradec Králové
1979
Hradec Králové / Czechoslovakia
Josef Vyleťal
Festival: 17. festival českých a slovenských filmů Hradec Králové
1979
Hradec Králové / Czechoslovakia
Vladimír Labský
Festival: 12. mezinárodní festival fantastických filmů a hororů Sitges
1979
Sitges / Spain
Juraj Herz
Festival: 17. festival českých a slovenských filmů Hradec Králové
1979
Hradec Králové / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Macháně
Festival: 8. mezinárodní festival fantastických a sci-fi filmů Paříž
1979
Paříž / France