The Green Wave

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production year

1981

Premiere

25 June 1982

Runtime

87 min

Director

Václav Vorlíček

Genre

comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Zelená vlna

Czech title

Zelená vlna

English title

The Green Wave

Working title

Milión každý pátek

Summary

Veteran director Václav Vorlíček’s filmography includes an unusual entry: a 1982 narrative comprising several episodes. The film paints an overall picture of a Friday afternoon in Prague as people, each in their own way, get ready for the weekend. The main protagonist is a police officer (Ladislav Županič) who monitors the city’s traffic from above in a helicopter and reports for the radio programme Zelená vlna (the name, The Green Wave, alludes to the idea of traffic lights going green in harmony with the traffic patterns, so as to maintain the flow). The policeman’s story acts as an umbrella between the individual episodes, both small and more prominent, which feature a variety of characters. The episodes combine into an image of a world in which there is no shortage of drama and tragedy but where a happy end is assured, thanks to the script by Vladimír Kalina. This lesser-known film remains overshadowed by Vorlíček’s famous comedies even though it featured an unusual concentration of popular actors.

Synopsis

It is Friday afternoon and the weekend hustle begins in Prague. A police helicopter takes off from the airport. It collaborates on the regular radio traffic programme entitled "Green Wave". Lieutenant Vágner contemplates the hundreds of human destinies which will be happening on the ground below him. A man in a hurry finds out at home on a housing estate that he forgot his car at work. Mrs Straková cannot wake up her drunken lover, so she rolls him up in a carpet and drives him to her cottage. But the man slips out during the ride and arrives at his own wedding dressed only in a T-shirt and boxer shorts. There is a car accident on the highway. This makes the Reichenberger family turn off and go for a ride to recall their youth. Employees of a business company gradually disappear from work but the director unfortunately returns. A bunch of Young Pioneers goes for a trip to the Beaver Brook which has meanwhile turned into a waste gutter. A psychiatrist, doctor Pelc from the phone Samaritan Service, listens to a future suicide. He decides to find him although he originally planned to go fishing. He drives through Prague in a taxi and finally finds the suicide and saves him. Jirka is in the legendary pub U Fleků and witnesses a tiny black-haired pickpocket girl robbing a foreigner. A man, ordered by his wife, takes his dog to leave it in a forest but unfortunately runs off the road, ending up in a river, and then saves the dog from the drowning car, almost sacrificing his own life. A thief Fretka picks up a family which is leaving for the airport. But when he breaks into their flat, he finds it completely empty. The parents of a seventeen-year old, shy daughter allow her to go tramping. In the evening, they secretly watch her amusing the whole group by the fire. A parrot flew away from an old couple due to an unfortunate accident. It was one of their few joys. They try to catch it all day and finally ask their neighbours in a large tower block to switch off the lights in their flats at ten in the evening. Only the window with the bird's cage is lit and the parrot indeed finds its way back home.

Jana Kuršová

venkovanka s kufrem

Libuše Vašků

Holanová

Jiří Vašků

Holan

Josef Sláma (2)

cyklista obarvený kouřem z výfuku

Marian Cingroš

Voice by Karel Chromík
vousatý rybář

Jitka Asterová

stopařka Vágnerová

Lenka Hájková

stopařka Valášková

Marie Kmochová

průvodkyně u Lorety

Ota Záleský

svalovec v trenýrkách u Lorety

Arnošt Neubauer

mladík ve veteránu

Václav Hrůza

řidič u řeky

Kateřina Chárová

dvacítka

Martina Menšíková

patnáctka

Veronika Jeníková

patnáctka

Jiřina Bahníková

mladá matka, sousedka majitelů andulky

Ferdinand Krůta

starší zedník

Michal Pavlata

mladší zedník

Luděk Šabaka

chlapec hrající na spinet v muzeu

Jan Beneš (2)

hudebník

Miloš Bílek

hudebník

Ladislav Bláha

hudebník

František Fiala (3)

hudebník

Václav Havlíček

hudebník

Jiří Jahoda

hudebník

Stanislav Ježek (2)

hudebník

Vratislav Křivánek

hudebník

Vladimír Tymich

hudebník

Bohumil Vaněček

hudebník

Miroslav Jíra

dubl

Crew and creators

Unit Production Manager

Luboš Kozák

Cooperation

Irena Dekojová (klapka), Jitka Bylinská (fotografka)

Music

Music Composed by

Karel Svoboda

Selected Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Music Performed by

Orchestr Karla Svobody (Music Conducted by Karel Svoboda), FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

Beatles

Song Composer Karel Svoboda
Writer of Lyrics Eduard Krečmar
Singer Karel Gott

To se vám jen zdá

Song Composer Karel Svoboda
Writer of Lyrics Boris Janíček
Singer Jitka Zelenková

Prostři pro dva stůl

Song Composer Karel Svoboda
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk Borovec
Singer Karel Gott

Kolíne, Kolíne

Song Composer František Kmoch
Writer of Lyrics František Kudrna
Singer sbor

Mámo, táto, vím jak na to

Song Composer Karel Svoboda
Writer of Lyrics Michal Bukovič
Singer Stanislava Coufalová

Production info

Original Title

Zelená vlna

Czech Title

Zelená vlna

English Title

The Green Wave

Working Title

Milión každý pátek

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production Year

1981

Production specifications

technical Screenplay approved 06/1981
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1987

Premiere

premiere 25 June 1982 /suitable for youths/

Production

Filmové studio Barrandov

Copyright Holders

Státní fond kinematografie

Studio

bez ateliérů

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Drahoslava Makovičky, Drahoslav Makovička (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Sales

Národní filmový archiv, Obchodní oddělení

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

87 min

Original length in metres

2 487 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

The Green Wave

Country

Copyright

Production year

Premiere

Runtime

Director

Category

Genre

Typology

Original title

Czech title

English title

Working title

Summary

Synopsis

Photos

Cast

Jana Kuršová

Libuše Vašků

Jiří Vašků

Josef Sláma (2)

Marian Cingroš

Lenka Hájková

Marie Kmochová

Ota Záleský

Arnošt Neubauer

Václav Hrůza