The Girl with a Sea-Shell

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1980

Production year

1979—1980

Premiere

13 February 1981

Runtime

87 min

Director

Jiří Svoboda

Genre

psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Dívka s mušlí

Czech title

Dívka s mušlí

English title

The Girl with a Sea-Shell

Summary

The fate of an adolescent girl whose life was affected by serious parental neglect was the inspiration for Jaromíra Kolárová’s novel and this film adaptation bearing the same name. In this intimate family drama, director Jiří Svoboda remained true to his formally effective style, which somewhat pushes the actual dramatic fate of the 13-year-old heroine into the background. At school little Vendula is considered to be backward; but in fact she has taken over from her alcoholic mother, caring for her three younger half-siblings. Evelyna Steimarová excels in the role of the unhappy woman addicted to alcohol in this 1980 drama. After Čekání na déšť (Waiting for the Rain, 1978), Karel Kachyňa secured the part of the heavily tested heroine for the young Dita Kaplanová, giving her another opportunity to deliver a deeply heartfelt performance.

Synopsis

Thirteen-year-old Vendula dozes off at school and dreams about her parents riding in a carriage dressed in their wedding clothes. The young teacher is angry with the girl who has already failed a year, and has no idea that she is looking after three younger half-brothers. They all have a different father and their mother comes home noisy and drunk every day, often accompanied by a man. Early in the morning, Vendula helps her mother clean offices, and sometimes has to do the cleaning all by herself. Her eldest brother Libor is good at school and blindly adores his mother. Jeník is a talented flute player and much more cynical. The youngest Venoušek is still a toddler. The only one who is cared of is Vendula by her father, who has divorced his confirmed alcoholic wife years ago and has another daughter in his new family. All his attempts to persuade Vendula to move in with them are in vain. The girl is selflessly trying to keep the family together. One night, her mother's drunken guest makes passes at Vendula and the girl's escape ends in a fall from the stairs and a stay in hospital. The mother ends up in an alcohol detoxification clinic, Venoušek in an orphanage, and the boys at a children's home where Vendula also finds herself after she gets well. In the meantime, the mother has given Venoušek up for adoption. Although back from the clinic, she shows no interest in her children and has started drinking again. She snubs her daughter who has hitchhiked to come and see her. Vendula's dreams of a real family have collapsed. At the masked ball in the children's home Vendula smiles for the first time.

Photos

Cast

Dita Kaplanová

Voice by Sylva Sequensová
Vendula Brabcová

Evelyna Steimarová

matka

Petr Bosák

Jeník, Vendulin nevlastní bratr

Martin Zavadil

Libor, Vendulin nevlastní bratr

Dana Medřická

sociální pracovnice Humlová

Emma Černá

vychovatelka

Ladislav Frej

Brabec, Vendulin otec

Regina Rázlová

otcova druhá žena

Jan Hartl

učitel Kadeřávek

Eva Horká

Helena, Vendulina nevlastní sestra

Richard Knotek

Pavel

Michala Baumannová

Zuzka

Jiří Kodet

Pernica

Eugen Jegorov

saxofonista Šimák

Jaroslava Tichá

sousedka s pomerančem

Jiří Škoda

soused Kraus

Bohumil Šmída

příslušník VB

Patrik Taragoš

Venoušek, Vendulin nejmladší bratr

Josef Fousek

číšník

Jana Altmannová

sousedka

Petra Fischerová

princezna, dvojče z Dětského domova

Šárka Fischerová

princezna, dvojče z Dětského domova

Michal Vacek

Hamouz

Jaroslava Tvrzníková

kuchařka ve škole

Radek Telvák

Pepík

E. Rudyšarová

Jana

D. Selnerová

Sýkorová

D. Gumiňski

tlouštík

E. Petrásková

spolužačka

V. Vendl

spolužák

Š. Bejblová

spolužačka

P. Hrdina

spolužák

R. Hoffmannová

spolužačka

P. Hrdina

spolužák

Zdeněk Srstka

dubl za Jiřího Škodu

Jaroslav Šanda

dubl za Jiřího Škodu

Soubor Chorea Bohemica

soubor

Otakar Berger

člen Souboru Chorea Bohemica

Jan Borůvka

člen Souboru Chorea Bohemica

Miroslav Brejcha

člen Souboru Chorea Bohemica