The Blue Planet

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1979

Production year

1979

Premiere

25 January 1980

Runtime

86 min

Category

film

Genre

comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Modrá planeta

Czech title

Modrá planeta

English title

The Blue Planet

Summary

A variety of genres were visited in the early days of Jiří Svoboda’s directing career. Alongside psychological dramas such as Zrcadlo pro Kristýnu (The Mirror for Christine, 1975) and Oddechový čas (Time for a Breather, 1977) and the historical drama Dům na Poříčí (The House in Na Poříčí Street, 1978) he also made Modrá planeta (The Blue Planet, 1979) about a young engineer named Pavlík who dreams of becoming a cosmonaut. However, rather than our fictitious hero, it is the actual Vladimír Remek – in real life, Czechoslovakia’s first cosmonaut – who heads for the stars at the end of the movie… This naively conceived film – Barrandov film studios' contribution to the celebrations of Czechoslovak cooperation in the Soviet space programme – stands out mainly for its cast which included Radoslav Brzobohatý, Jiří Kodet and Evelyna Steimarová. The leading role was played by Jiří Menzel, who in his capacity as a film director was then preparing to adapt a number of works by Bohumil Hrabal including Postřižiny (Cutting It Short, 1980), Krasosmutnění (Beautiful Sadness, 1982, TV film) and Slavnosti sněženek (A Feast of Snowdrops, 1983).

Synopsis

Štěpán Pavlík, a design engineer of connection technology, longs to become a astronaut. He sends his application to Moscow and waits for the answer. He meets the team from the observatory in Ondřejov, where he also encounters a mysterious girl Mab, who sometimes shows up close to the observatory. Finally, the answer comes from the Academy of Science in Moscow. On the basis of the Academy's decision Štěpán is taken on at the observatory, where he replaces engineer Málek who has resigned. Štěpán works hard on the measuring equipment to be used inside the spacecraft and is supposed to be flying to Moscow in a month to conduct functional tests on the equipment. But his work is not entirely successful. He finishes it in due time but knows there are faults in it. These are eliminated by engineer Málek, who has withdrawn his notice. Štěpán doesn't go to Moscow, he stays in Czechoslovakia, sad and with a feeling of having wasted an opportunity... Time goes by, and Štěpán watches the launch of the spacecraft with the Czechoslovak astronaut Vladimír Remek on it. He thinks about the girl Mab and about his dreams. He is reconciled with his life and glad that mankind is making a reality of his dreams, and the dreams of millions of others.

Cast

Jiří Menzel

konstruktér Ing. Štěpán Pavlík

Radoslav Brzobohatý

astronom dr. Mastník

Evelyna Steimarová

Kateřina Panýrová, pracovnice obse

Jiří Kodet

astronom Ing. Petr Málek

František Řehák

dr. Skalník, vedoucí observatoře

Jan Schmid

dr. Karel Perout

Lenka Kodešová

dívka na kole zvaná Mab

Jana Riháková

aranžérka Jitka, Štěpánova dívka

Jan Kanyza

invalida, Štěpánův kamarád

Eugen Jegorov

zahradník

Jana Břežková

Marta, Peroutova žena

Karel Novák

blázen Horáček

Miloslav Vajnar

dr. Čížek

Helena Růžičková

sousedka Květa Ronešová

Václav Kaňkovský

manžel Ronešové

Jan Cmíral

náměstek

Josef Šebek

laborant

Zdeňka Rosolová

žena v maringotce

Miloš Drahota

saniťák

Antonín Klípa

saniťák

Jaroslav Tomsa

vedoucí prodejny

Jiří Průcha

muž

Jiří Knotek

muž v zelené bundě

Irena Lehká

dubl za Lenku Kodešovou

Milena Hodačová

dubl za Evelynu Steimarovou

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Zdeněk Flídr

Assistant Director

Jaroslav Hrubeš

Continuity

Eva Truchlá

Shooting Script

Jiří Svoboda

Director of Photography

Andrej Barla

Second Unit Photography

Pavel Dosoudil

Camera Operator

Jiří Knotek

Production Designer

Milan Nejedlý

Assistent Production Designer

Boris Moravec ml.

Set Designer

Jan Hodný, Jaroslav Česal, Karel Kočí

Costume Designer

Svatava Sophová

Film Editor

Josef Valušiak

Assistant Film Editor

Růžena Hejsková, Jana Šimonová

Sound Designer

Pavel Jelínek

Production Manager

Karel Vejřík

Unit Production Manager

Milan Nosek

Consultant

prof. Ing. Aleš Tříska, DrSc., RNDr. Boris Valníček, DrSc., Václav Hejna

Cooperation

Dana Průchová (klapka), Ivan Minář (fotograf), Středisko pro výcvik kosmonautů Jurije Gagarina, Astronomický ústav ČSAV

Music

Music Composed by

Vadim Petrov

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Songs

Slunce ztuhlé mrazem

Singer Jan Schmid

Neplač, starý cikán

Singer ženský hlas

Motýl

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří Menzel

Production info

Original Title

Modrá planeta

Czech Title

Modrá planeta

English Title

The Blue Planet

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1979

Production Year

1979

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 27 April 1978
end of filming 15 May 1978
start of filming 19 July 1978
technical Screenplay approved 9 August 1978
projection approval 4 June 1979
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1986

Premiere

premiere 25 January 1980 /unsuitable for youths/

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Karla Valtery, Karel Valtera (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

86 min

Original length in metres

2 433 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