What a Wonderful World with You

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production year

1982

Premiere

1 January 1983

Runtime

82 min

Category

film

Genre

comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

S tebou mě baví svět

Czech title

S tebou mě baví svět

English title

What a Wonderful World with You

Summary

A belated debut for the then 41 year-old director Marie Poledňáková, the comedy film S tebou mě baví svět (What a Wonderful World with You, 1982) went on to win a 1998 viewers’ poll for “the best comedy of the century”. In hindsight, that resounding endorsement has probably done the motion picture’s reputation more harm than good in the wider context of film. Still, Poledňáková’s first feature remains well remembered as a piece of light family entertainment. Its author had previously honed her skills as a screenwriter and director on two television comedies; Jak vytrhnout velrybě stoličku (How to Pull a Whale´s Tooth, 1977) and Jak dostat tatínka do polepšovny (How to get Daddy into Reform School, 1978). In both films she succeeded in combining comedy about marital relationships with the insights of a child protagonist played by Tomáš Holý. For the feature film What a Wonderful World With You, the director developed the script with a simple multiplication of her formula’s key ingredients. The sparring wife and husband are thus replaced by three married couples and one little rascal by six adorable whippersnappers. Rather than in a summer setting, the narrative takes place in the snow-clad Beskid Mountains during winter. The trio of adult male protagonists – physician Albert (Julius Satinský), conductor Michal (Václav Postránecký) and sound engineer Josef (Pavel Nový) – are visiting a mountain resort with their children. Following a minor rebellion by their wives, the proposed “stag party” in the chalet turns into an unforgettable winter holiday as the men try to prove that they can take better care of the kids than their spouses. Poledňáková generates laughs from the quirky techniques the men use to entertain their offspring. It doesn’t take long for Kateřina, Dáša and Gábina to realise that leaving the children with their incompetent and clumsy fathers has been a big mistake… This story, based on the timeless notion of the “battle of the sexes”, unwittingly reveals the limited extent of women´s emancipation in Czechoslovakia at the beginning of the 1980s.

Synopsis

Three friends - music conductor Michal Adámek, sound engineer Pepa Bednář and physician Albert Horák - are getting ready for their ninth winter stag party. But this time, their wifes - Kateřina, Dáša and Gábina - revolt: the husbands must take their children with them. And so the gentlemen leave with six kids, the oldest one of them being the eight-year old Bertík and the youngest one Matýsek who only recently learned to walk. The fathers divide their responsibilities on the train: Albert will tend to the children, Pepa to the kitchen and Michal to cleaning. They are convinced they can manage everything easily and better than their wives. But they misjudged themselves, they are not doing well and are so tired in the evening that they can barely walk. The wives Kateřina and Dáša meanwhile enjoy their free time in a wine cellar, at a gamekeepers' ball and at a fashion show. Gábina and her music group perform in a nearby submontane Beskydy hotel and her husband Pepa secretly skis down to her every night. Each morning, he boasts to his friends about made-up love experiences with students. The mothers Kateřina and Dáša become increasingly worried about the children and they thus decide to go for an "inspection". Their arrival means a disaster for the men - they are sleeping late and the children meanwhile are amusing themselves, but not very safely. Kateřina moreover falls into a trap which was originally laid for Pepa by his friends. The mothers immediately take the children home and ignore their husbands after their return. Albert ended up the worst - he must care for his three children alone. The friends who promised him help make his situation even worse out of fun. Albert's revenge with the simulated kidnapping of Michal's and Pepa's children fails; he, on the contrary, himself falls into a trap which his wife Kateřina set for him.

Cast

Július Satinský

lékař Albert Horák

Jana Šulcová

rehabilitační sestra Kateřina, Horákova žena

Václav Postránecký

dirigent Michal Adámek

Eliška Balzerová

rehabilitační sestra Dáša, Michalova žena

Pavel Nový

zvukař Pepa Bednář

Zdena Studenková

Voice by Naďa Konvalinková
zpěvačka Gábina, Pepova žena

Květa Fialová

babička Bednářových

Zuzana Gutheisová

Dášenka, čtyřletá dcera Adámkových

Marta Buchtíková

Kačenka, šestiletá dcera Horákových

Václav Korda

Míša, sedmiletý syn Adámkových

Cyril Křupala

Pepino, pětiletý syn Bednářových

Lukáš Pelánek

Matýsek, roční syn Horákových

Marek Dvořák

Bertík, osmiletý syn Horákových

Jan Faltýnek

taxikář

Magda Křížková

zdravotní sestra

Viktor Maurer

pacient ve vaně

Jan Balzer

pacient na lehátku/dubl za Júlia Satinského – lyžování

Zdeněk Skalický

člen orchestru

Jaroslav Tomsa

člen orchestru

Eduard Pavlíček

člen orchestru

Jiří Schmiedt

člen orchestru

Marta Pospíchalová

manekýnka

Jitka Asterová

sálová sestra

Marta Richterová

žena ve vaně

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Drahomíra Králová

Assistant Director

Petr Slabý

Director of Photography

Petr Polák

Second Unit Photography

Pavel Nečesal

Camera Operator

Karel Dobřichovský

Production Designer

Jiří Matolín

Assistent Production Designer

Jozef Hrabušický

Set Designer

Zdeněk Jeřábek, Rudolf Kinský, Vítězslav Kudláč

Costume Designer

Libuše Pražáková

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Magda Hájková

Sound Designer

Pavel Jelínek

Production Manager

Jan Balzer

Unit Production Manager

Zdeňka Černá, Václav Eisenhamer

Cooperation

Renata Stádníková (klapka), Miloslav Mirvald (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Václav Zahradník

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Choreographer

Jan Hartmann

Songs

Sladké mámení

Song Composer Václav Zahradník
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Poštulka
Singer Zdena Studenková [dab]Helena Vondráčková

Vzhůru k výškám

Song Composer Václav Zahradník
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Poštulka
Singer Zdena Studenková [dab]Helena Vondráčková

S tebou mě baví svět

Singer sbor

Hajha, husy, ze pšenice

Song Composer lidová píseň
Singer Július Satinský

Production info

Original Title

S tebou mě baví svět

Czech Title

S tebou mě baví svět

English Title

What a Wonderful World with You

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production Year

1982

Production specifications

withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1995

Premiere

premiere 1 January 1983 /suitable for youths/

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

1. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Jiří Blažek (vedoucí 1. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

82 min

Original length in metres

2 355 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

Vítěz

Festival: 40. mezinárodní festival filmů pro děti a mládež Zlín

2000
Zlín / Czech Republic
Marie Poledňáková

Vítěz

Event: Televizní anketa diváků o nejpopulárnější českou filmovou komedii století – anketa České televize a Týdeníku Televize Volíme veselohru století

1998
Praha / Czech Republic

Vítěz

Event: 13. ročník čtenářské ankety týdeníku Květy ve spolupráci s Československou televizí a Ústřední půjčovnou filmů

1984
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jana Šulcová

Vítěz

Festival: 21. mezinárodní festival filmů pro děti a mládež Gijón

1983
Gijón / Spain

Vítěz

Festival: 21. festival českých a slovenských filmů Ostrava

1983
Ostrava / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Festival: 21. mezinárodní festival filmů pro děti a mládež Gijón

1983
Gijón / Spain