Just to Whistle a Bit

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1980

Production year

1980

Premiere

10 April 1981

Runtime

79 min

Director

Karel Smyczek

Genre

psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Jen si tak trochu písknout

Czech title

Jen si tak trochu písknout

English title

Just to Whistle a Bit

Summary

After his successful debut Housata (Goslings) (1979), exploring the tribulations of a vocational school girl, director Karel Smyczek explored the problems of two Prague 13-year-old boys in this picture. It was while working on Jen si tak trochu písknout (Just to Whistle a Bit) (1980) that he first encountered the screenwriters Ivo Pelant and Radek John, with whom he collaborated in the 1980s on Jako zajíci (Like Rabbits) (1981) and Sněženky a machři (Snowdrops and Daredevils) (1982). Smyczek later worked with John alone on the social drama Proč? (Why?) (1987); the latter’s profession as a journalist added greatly to the authenticity of the films mentioned, which revolved around young characters. The story of Pavel Voříšek and Petr Moravec (based on several motifs from the novel Denim World) also explores the fates of teen protagonists against a broader sociological backdrop. The boys are looking for fun beyond the activities offered at school; when they come across organ pipes in an old church they decide to set up a class orchestra. However, their concert is interrupted by police searching for the stolen pipes. Pavel doesn’t give his friend away and takes the rap. Petr’s parents, however, bar their son from contact with the “thief”, whose father – a waiter – is not a good role model either. Therefore Petr doesn’t even get to go to a party his friend holds at home in his father’s absence. When Pavel looks in vain for shelter from his raging father at the Moravecs’ and Petr admits complicity in the theft his parents main concern is to keep the whole matter hushed up… The hypocrisy and utilitarian lies that the adults drag their children into becomes the theme of a narrative in which the writers create a mosaic of humorous and dramatic episodes. Smyczek added to the appeal of his lightly provocative picture by casting convincing child actors Michal Suchánek (Petr) and Daniel Šedivák (Pavel). The two also appeared in his Snowdrops and Daredevils. The parts of the parents went to actors who were not overexposed – Zdeněk Dryšl, Eva Lecchiová (the Moravecs) and Bronislav Poloczk (Voříšek).

Synopsis

While hanging out in the city, Pavel Voříšek and Petr Moravec walk in a church which is recently being reconstructed. They discover organ pipes in an old dusty box and take a few of them. Petr's parents are not happy about their son being a friend with a boy, whose father is divorced, living a rather indecent way. However, Petr is attracted by a fearless guy, getting easily involved in his crackbrained ideas, such as to establish an orchestra. Pavel distributes the pipes among the class-mates to make them try whistling. He also wants to use his fathers' violin, but in the case, he finds blue pictures and naked women photographs, instead. He tries to sell them in an auction at school. Suddenly, the police appear at school, announcing that some organ pipes and electric drills have been stolen from local church. In searching the school bags, they find the erotic pictures in Pavel's satchel, and the organ pipes. At the investigation, Pavel does not reveal that Petr accompanied him at the theft. Pavel undergoes hard thrashing by his father at home. Then he tries to search for the electric drills on his own, finding out from a night caretaker that someone had returned them lately. Petr's parents prohibit him to buddy with Pavel any more. Petr does not succeed in participating in a party thrown by Pavel while his father was out. Boys and girls drink some spirits; only Vráťa secretly pours his drinks to the aquarium. The fish though does not survive his abstinence. All the children duck out seeing a furious Pavel's father, including Pavel, who tries to find a shelter at Petr's. Petr's parents refuse to let him stay overnight, since they consider him to be a thief. Petr is very unhappy about it and comes clean about stealing the organ pipes with Pavel. His parents make sure that nobody knows about it, assuring Petr that everything is all right. Meanwhile Pavel rushes through the city, making his way to the urban clearway. He recognizes Petr with his parents in a car going out of the city. Also Petr recognizes his friend, but he pretends to be involved in reading a book. Pavel waves at his friend in vain.

Film online

Voyo →

Photos

herec v televizi

Věra Galatíková

herečka v televizi

Karel Urbánek

herec v televizi

D. Eberman

žák

Crew and creators

Set Designer

Ivan Ernyei, Jan Petrů, Josef Pavlík

Costume Designer

Kristina Novotná

Costumes

Věnceslava Vrtišková, Naděžda Jirásková

Make-Up Artist

Miloslav Jandera, Božena Došlá, Pavel Minichbauer

Film Editor

Josef Valušiak

Assistant Film Editor

Jana Šimonová

Sound Designer

Jiří Moudrý

Production Manager

Karel Kochman

Unit Production Manager

Eliška Sekavová, Petr Prejda, Věra Lukášová

Unit Production Manager

Jana Příkaská

Cooperation

Zora Winkelhöferová (klapka), Jan Kuděla (fotograf), Jana Semschová

Music

Music Composed by

Zdeněk John

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), skupina Labyrint Pavla Fořta

Songs

Jakpak se to udělá, aby žena zmizela

Song Composer Zdeněk John
Singer dívčí sbor

Production info

Original Title

Jen si tak trochu písknout

Czech Title

Jen si tak trochu písknout

English Title

Just to Whistle a Bit

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1980

Production Year

1980

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 12 December 1978
start of filming 12 March 1980
technical Screenplay approved 31 March 1980
end of filming 11 October 1980
projection approval 11 November 1980
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1991

Premiere

premiere 10 April 1981 /suitable for youths/

Production

Filmové studio Barrandov

Copyright Holders

Státní fond kinematografie

Studio

bez ateliérů

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Sales

Národní filmový archiv, Obchodní oddělení

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

79 min

Original length in metres

2 249 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Copyright

Production year

Premiere

Runtime

Director

Category

Genre

Typology

Original title

Czech title

English title

Summary

Synopsis

Film online

Photos

Cast

Pavel Kohout (2)

Renata Pokorná

Dagmar Khainová

Jan Strnad

Miroslava Vydrová

Pavel Čadek

Jan Šedivý

Vítězslav Sutr

Taťána Bártová

Jan Dvořák

Jiří Kosek

Michal Pečenka

P. Fiala

P. Hanuš

P. Hošek

M. Jablonská

M. Kalvodová

A. Lněnička

L. Machata

R. Molnár

J. Nedorost

J. Palo

J. Pros

H. Stibalová

Vl. Šašek

E. Tůmová

E. Ujcová

H. Velingerová

J. Vlasák

J. Vocetka

M. Vohryzková

A. Zíková

D. Eberman

Crew and creators

Director

Second Unit Director

Assistant Director

Continuity

Screenstory

Screenplay

Shooting Script

Dramaturg

Director of Photography

Camera Operator

Production Designer

Assistent Production Designer

Set Designer

Costume Designer

Costumes

Make-Up Artist

Film Editor

Assistant Film Editor

Sound Designer

Production Manager

Unit Production Manager

Unit Production Manager

Cooperation

Music

Music Composed by

Music Performed by

Songs

Jakpak se to udělá, aby žena zmizela