Chasing the Cat

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1979

Production year

1979

Premiere

4 April 1980

Runtime

76 min

Director

Milan Muchna

Category

film

Genre

comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Hon na kočku

Czech title

Hon na kočku

English title

Chasing the Cat

Summary

The sexual awakenings and misadventures of teenagers became a theme in Czech cinema during the late 1970s and early 1980s within the genre of films “about youth and for youth”. One film that addresses such motifs, and which certainly does not deserve to sink into the ranks of the forgotten, is a Milan Muchna comedy made in 1979. The film’s heroine is a naïve student named Bláža living in a small town. She decides that it’s time to lose her virginity. After failing to do so in her home town, she travels to Prague where she meets a chance acquaintance, a tennis player named Pavel. Like the heroine of Miloš Forman’s Lásky jedné plavovlásky (Loves of a Blonde, 1965), Bláža too is eventually dispossessed of her illusions and has to confront reality. In devising the light-hearted script, Muchna and Karel Štorkán were assisted by Miloš Macourek. The latter’s contribution ensures that Hon na kočku goes (Chasing the Cat) beyond mere entertainment. It does in fact offer a convincing narrative of events that divest a naïve secondary school student of her dreams of romance. Muchna found the perfect actress for the lead role in Jaromíra Mílová.

Synopsis

A slim and a bit childish Bláža Hořešovská from a small spa town has definitely decided to loose her virginity. She puts heads together with her schoolmates from secondary school. While walking with her friend Magda she refuses a dandy-like seduction of the book-seller Kučera, the local Casanova. In the afternoon Bláža visits her friend, the eighteen year old Vojta Voborník. They cuddle a bit clumsily in the loft of his house. Their attempt to get closer is interrupted suddenly and embarrassingly by Vojta's mother. She slaps her son and shows the girl out. At the Hořešovskýs home is everything as usually. The mother is tidying up and the father is drinking bear in front of TV. On Saturday Bláža and her friends meet young tennis-players from Prague. Bláža gets closer to one of them, called Pavel. She tells him about her dreams. The ironic young man is enchanted by the girl's naive romanticism and the couple dances on the colonnade. Magda invites her friends and the Prague gentlemen to their villa, her parents left. Bláža's father influenced by the information of the annoyed Voborníková is looking for his daughter around the town. The intimate party in the villa ends up as Magda's grandpa arrives. A couple of days later Bláža goes to Prague to see Pavel. But he is not on the ball to which he has invited her. The girl is lured into a certain studio by his alleged friends. First there she learns that Pavel is on a tournament outside of Prague. Without her handbag and documents she escapes both pushing young men. Bláža's Prague adventure ends up by a detention by police. Her terrified parents await her at home with lots of bans. Her mother checks her in the evening, but she is sleeping deeply. First after Mrs. Hořešovská leaves her room, Vojta hidden behind Bláža peers up in her bed.

Cast

Jaromíra Mílová

Bláža Hořešovská

Ivan Wiesner

Vojta Voborník

Jana Březinová

Anna, Blážina matka

Bronislav Poloczek

Fanouš, Blážin otec

Zuzana Schmidová

Vojtova matka

Antonín Trš

tenista Pavel Rejsek

Anna Pernerová

Magda, Blážina kamarádka

Olga Kalfiřtová

Dana, Blážina kamarádka

Ferdinand Havlík

vedoucí knihkupectví Kučera

Miroslav Kvašňák

fotograf Kamil Pilc

František Blahoňovský

Petr

Petr Jakeš

Jarouš

Miloš Čoudek

Houba

Karel Řádek

kulturista Karel Čumpelík

Miroslav Veselý

tenista Stanislav Keberle

Michal Antoš

tenista Tomáš Rotter

Karel Roden

Václav Pokorný, Blážin dědeček

Bohuslav Kupšovský

František Zítek, Magdin dědeček

Emilie Zíchová

zpěvačka Blanka/členka lázeňského orchestru

Milada Ježková

Blážina teta

Tereza Pokorná

Mirka, Blážina nemocná spolužačka

Oskar Gottlieb

diskžokej

Jaroslav Postránecký

hudebník-pozounista

Bohuslav Kuznik

hudebník-klarinetista

Rudolf Kroupa

hudebník-hobojista

Jiří Šindelář (3)

člen skupiny Katapult

Oldřich Říha

kapelník skupiny Katapult

Milan Tutsch

člen skupiny Katapult

Ladislav Vostárek

člen skupiny Katapult

Břetislav Slováček

Romeo v televizní inscenaci

Zlata Adamovská

Julie v televizní inscenaci

Simona Charvátová

Lidunka, Blážina kamarádka

Martin Fassati

Štěpán

Otto Košta

Venca

Božena Böhmová

zdravotní sestra

Dagmar Hachová

zdravotní sestra

Dana Říhová

zdravotní sestra

Jiří Antalovský

technik

Václav Houška

technik

Viktor Janoušek

technik

Václav Stezka

technik

Jitka Hladká

servírka

Marta Vejmolová

servírka

Tomáš Janata

vrchní

Tomáš Klouček

číšník

Miloš Navrátil

barman

Stanislav Lukeš

vousatý mladík

MUDr. Jiří Skřivan

lékař

Pavlína Sádlová

blondýna

Zdeněk Skalický

příslušník VB

Jan Šefl

dirigent

Karel Šťovíček

člen lázeňského orchestru

Crew and creators

Director

Milan Muchna

Second Unit Director

Milan Klacek

Assistant Director

Zdeněk Pazdírek

Screenstory

Karel Štorkán

Director of Photography

Richard Valenta

Second Unit Photography

Martin Benoni

Camera Operator

Emil Hora

Production Designer

Boris Moravec

Assistent Production Designer

Boris Halmi

Set Designer

Jan Hodný, Karel Kočí, Jiří Matějka

Costume Designer

Jitka Polednová

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Sound Designer

Jiří Pavlík

Production Manager

Jan Balzer

Unit Production Manager

Zdeňka Černá, Kateřina Schauerová

Unit Production Manager

Milan Nosek

Cooperation

Jindřich Panáček (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jan Klusák

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), skupina Katapult

Songs

Cikán, černý cikán

Song Composer Jiří ČervenýAdolf Školka /úprava/
Writer of Lyrics Tomáš HertanAdolf Školka /úprava/
Singer Emilie Zíchová

Nezapomeň, šuhajku, na ty panske luky

Singer ženský hlas

Holka rozmilá

Singer ženský hlas

Motýl

Song Composer Jiří Šlitr
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Suchý
Singer Jiří JelínekJana Malknechtová

Hlupák váhá

Song Composer Oldřich Říha
Writer of Lyrics Ladislav Vostárek
Singer skupina Katapult

Já nesnídám sám

Song Composer Oldřich Říha
Writer of Lyrics Ladislav Vostárek
Singer skupina Katapult

Production info

Original Title

Hon na kočku

Czech Title

Hon na kočku

English Title

Chasing the Cat

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1979

Production Year

1979

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 14 September 1978
start of filming 12 March 1979
technical Screenplay approved 12 April 1979
end of filming 5 October 1979
projection approval 30 October 1979
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1990

Premiere

premiere 4 April 1980 /unsuitable for youths/

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Miroslava Hladkého, Miroslav Hladký (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

76 min

Original length in metres

2 172 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: 2. festival československé filmové veselohry Nové Město nad Metují

1980
Nové Město nad Metují / Czechoslovakia
Bronislav Poloczek