The Face behind the Glass
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1979Production year
1978—1979Premiere
23 November 1979Runtime
85 minDirector
Hynek BočanCategory
filmGenre
dramaTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Tvář za sklemCzech title
Tvář za sklemEnglish title
The Face behind the GlassWorking title
Jedno okno ještě svítíSummary
Director Hynek Bočan and Moravian writer Jan Kostrhun first teamed up in 1979 while making an adaptation of the novella Černé ovce (Black Sheep). They went on to create feature films such as Pytláci (Poachers, 1981) and Vinobraní (The Grape Harvest, 1982). Their motion picture Tvář za sklem (The Face behind the Glass) saw the return of Bočan to filmmaking –after his political opinions caused him to fall into disfavour at Prague’s Barrandov film studios, he suffered a ban. Using the format of a family drama, he was permitted to touch on a taboo theme of the 1950s, which the film industry commissioners – viewing things through the lens of the period of “normalisation” – addressed with ideologically distorted points of view. The dignified hero of Tvář za sklem is a father, Tůma (Miroslav Macháček), who opposed “collectivisation” and ended up in jail after murdering a communist agitator. Tůma´s son (Jaromír Hanzlík) – now the chairman of an agricultural collective – tries to build a relationship with his alienated father. And he will succeed, largely because this explosively dramatic story was obliged to have an optimistic outcome.
Synopsis
Petr Tůma is a young manager of a cooperative farm in a Moravian village. He is married and has two children. For many years he has not made a contact with his father, who in the 1950s opposed the enforced collectivization of farms in Moravian villages. At that time, the promoter of collectivization was shot and Tůma was accused and later also sentenced to many years in prison. His son Petr was brought up by his ill mother and her friend Kadlec. After serving his sentence, Tůma, the father, accepts a job of a coachman in his native village. Petr wants to make peace with his father and move his whole family to live with him. Petr's wife, Anděla, however, refuses the plan. She does not want to leave, although it would only mean to move to the next village. Petr's first visit of his father does not go too well. Tůma, the father, comes to meet his son's family at the station, but does not recognize Petr. Tůma gets hurt during forest work and thanks to Petr, he receives proper medical treatment. Petr stays with his father for the night, but does not tell him that his wife and children do not want to move. The next day, Tůma, the father, takes his coach and goes to pick up his daughter in law and grandchildren. Anděla refuses him, but the father in law stays and waits in front of the house overnight. In the end, the young woman decides to follow her husband and the young teacher, who was pursuing Anděla, stays on his own.
Photos
Cast
Jaromír Hanzlík
předseda JZD Ing. Petr Tůma
Miroslav Macháček
kočí Tůma, Petrův otec
Josef Bláha
předseda JZD Václav Kadlec
Jaroslava Obermaierová
knihovnice Anděla, Petrova manželka
Jana Hlaváčová
Tůmová, Petrova matka
Jana Prachařová
Voice by Karolina Slunéčková
Kadlecova žena
Václav Babka
Straka
Jana Švandová
Karlička
Ilja Prachař
Kučera
Jaroslav Satoranský
agitátor
Karel Augusta
krmič Riška
Jan Kanyza
Hlinka, milenec Karličky
Karel Smyczek
učitel
Petr Malát
Petr Tůma jako dítě
Oldřich Velen
agitátor z města
Eliška Sirová
Lenka, dcera Petra a Anděly
Martin Maucha
Jeník, syn Petra a Anděly
Karel Velebil
Karlík, syn Karličky
Kateřina Vlková
mladá účetní
Mojmír Heger
příslušník SNB
Josef Husník
příslušník SNB
Zdeněk Maryška
příslušník SNB
Ludmila Píchová
uklízečka
Jiří Valenta
soudce
Vladimír Tišer
účetní
Jiří Flíček
dozorce
Rudolf Hammer
dozorce
Jindřich Hrdý
mladík z hloučku
Rudolf A. Rosenfelder
řidič tahače
Karel Staněk
zootechnik
Vladimír Staněk (2)
voják
Ludmila Šafářová
dívka z hloučku
Petr Hudeček
hudebník
Josef Koliba
hudebník
Jaroslav Kovařík
hudebník
Antonín Patočka
hudebník
Josef Patočka (2)
hudebník
Pavel Skopal
hudebník
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Continuity
Based on
Jan Kostrhun (Černé ovce – román)
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Dramaturg
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Jiří Žák, P. Hořejší, Ladislav Winkelhöfer
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Karel Prchal, Vladimír Tišer
Unit Production Manager
Václav Veruněk
Cooperation
Hana Hebrová (klapka), Miroslav Pešan (fotograf)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
Orchestr Ladislava Štaidla (Music Conducted by Milivoj Uzelac), Cimbálová muzika Zavádka Čejkovice
Production info
Original Title
Tvář za sklem
Czech Title
Tvář za sklem
English Title
The Face behind the Glass
Working Title
Jedno okno ještě svítí
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
drama
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1979
Production Year
1978—1979
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 29 March 1978
start of filming 9 August 1978
technical Screenplay approved 5 September 1978
end of filming 28 February 1979
projection approval 7 March 1979
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1986
Premiere
premiere 23 November 1979 /unsuitable for youths/
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Distribution
Creative Group
Dramaturgická skupina Vladimíra Kaliny, Vladimír Kalina (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
85 min
Original length in metres
2 453 meters
Distribution carrier
16mm, 35mm
Aspect ratio
1:1,66
Colour
colour
Sound
sound
Sound system/format
mono
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
Czech
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
Awards
Vítěz
Festival: 17. filmový festival mladých Trutnov
1979
Trutnov / Czechoslovakia
Václav Šašek
