Tearful Eyes

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1983

Production year

1983

Premiere

1 April 1984

Runtime

77 min

Category

film

Genre

comedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Oči pro pláč

Czech title

Oči pro pláč

English title

Tearful Eyes

Summary

An elderly lady known as “Mrs. Irena”takes advantage of prospective buyers of her magnificent Art Nouveau villa. The advertisements she places in the newspapers from time to time are a ruse which the cunning grande dame uses to draw people in to maintain the house and attend to her own rather demanding personal needs… For his social satire, Zdeněk Mika, director of Tchán (Father-in-Law, 1979) and Ten svetr si nesvlíkej (Don’t Take This Pullover Off!, 1980), put to good use a plot about a calculating woman, her extended family members, who start preparing to battle for the chance to live in the elegant house, and a thieving greengrocer. Though a morality tale, the sly heroine (portrayed by Stella Zázvorková) ends up with more than just the eponymous “tearful eyes” of the title. This is a light-hearted film that benefits from strong performances by other popular actors – such as Vlastimil Brodský, Dagmar Veškrnová and Marie Rosůlková.

Synopsis

The well-kept sixty-year-old Mrs Irena publishes the following advertisement: Villa for sale. Sign: To the highest offer. The greengrocer Hedváb is highly interested in the villa, but Mrs Irena has been jerking him around for a year already. One day, the woman pretends to be dying and asks Hedváb to give her a cab ride through Prague. She also wants to visit a flat in a commonplace block of flats where she reportedly once spends moments of love. A young couple, the Špičkas, and their three daughters are crammed in the small flat. Irena submits more and more requirements to Hedváb concerning the villa sale: she wants the Špičkas flat and twenty thousand crowns in addition. But the Špičkas are high-principled people and consistently turn down all Hedváb's suggestions. The greengrocer does not give up. He even takes care of the villa for free, doing all the housework there just to prove he is the right buyer. He has no idea that Irena has been speculating with the villa for years and misusing its renters to maintain it. Mr Špička would love to have a son, and thus agrees with the new Hedváb's proposal: Irena will move to their flat, the Špičkas will move to Hedváb's flat, and Hedváb and his family will move to the villa. Apart from Irena, they all try to realize the exchange as quickly as possible. The greengrocer steals on a large scale in order to provide for the family and divorces his wife for effect so that they were entitled to two flat units in the villa. Irena must take in her old aunt because even the Špičkas' small flat is too big for her according to the official regulations. The Špička family is looking forward to the spacious place because Mrs Špičková is pregnant. On D-Day, however, Irena calls the moving enterprise off without warning. Hedváb remarries his wife but is taken away from the wedding by some detectives. Mrs Špičková delivers triplets - two boys and a girl. After some time, Irena visits the Špičkas but they throw her out. They received a new large flat. Irena is even abandoned by her old friend and there she is, with tearful eyes and all alone as predicted. But she soon publishes a new advertisement: Villa for sale.

Cast

Stella Zázvorková

majitelka vily paní Irena

Vlastimil Brodský

Broněk Sláma, Irenin ctitel

Dagmar Veškrnová

prodavačka Špičková

Svatopluk Skopal

krejčí Alois Špička

Jan Schánilec

zelinář Hedváb

Alena Procházková

Kateřina, Hedvábova žena

Vladimír Krška

příbuzný

Miloslav Homola

příbuzný

Zdeněk Blažek

příbuzný

Věra Kalendová

příbuzná Anička

Václav Kotva

soudní úředník

Tomáš Sláma

nadstrážmistr VB

Ivo Niederle

porodník

Svatopluk Skládal

předseda interrupční komise

František Korous

taxikář

Zdeněk Kříž (2)

mladý zloděj

Jan Víšek

ředitel podniku

Pavla Vojáčková

prodavačka

Bohumil Koška

příslušník VB

Vít Pešina

kontrolor

Vladimír Pospíšil

oddávající úředník

Irena Hahnová

matka zloděje

Jan Cmíral

otec zloděje

Václav Fišer

vážný ve skladu

Radka Majerová

zdravotní sestra

Mirko Musil

stěhovák

Petr Drozda

stěhovák

Karel Smrž

stěhovák harmonikář

Zdeněk Srstka

stěhovák

Radim Vašinka

stěhovák

Karel Hovorka

lékař na schodech

Jana Robenková

úřednice v inzertní kanceláři

Zdeněk Nečas

fotograf

Jaroslava Tichá

přísedící komise

Jaroslav Toms

příslušník VB

Václav Burkert

příslušník VB

Nina Nováková

dcera Špičkových

Elena Plzáková

dcera Špičkových

Jolana Plzáková

dcera Špičkových

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Jiří Růžička st.

Assistant Director

Miloš Zábranský

Continuity

Hana Kozlová

Screenstory

Jan Jílek

Screenplay

Jan Jílek

Director of Photography

Jiří Stöhr

Second Unit Photography

Jan Kváča

Camera Operator

František Kučera

Production Designer

Oldřich Bosák

Assistent Production Designer

Jan Zázvorka ml.

Set Designer

Ivo Černý, Miloš Osvald, Jiří Rulík, Ladislav Rada

Costume Designer

Jarmila Konečná

Assistant Film Editor

Anna Mejtská, Eliška Willigová

Sound Designer

František Fabián

Production Manager

Jiří Krejčí

Unit Production Manager

Pavel Nový, Iva Šetková

Unit Production Manager

Adriena Váchová

Cooperation

Irena Dekojová (klapka), Jitka Bylinská (fotografka)

Music

Music Composed by

Felix Slováček

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

V Hodoníně za vojáčka mňa vzali

Singer Svatopluk Skopal

Stromečky okolo Břežánky

Song Composer lidová píseňBedřich Ondráček /úprava/
Singer Stella ZázvorkováKarel Smrž

Já jenom zívám

Song Composer Felix Slováček
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk Borovec
Singer Jitka ZelenkováVlasta KahovcováJarmila Gerlová

Production info

Original Title

Oči pro pláč

Czech Title

Oči pro pláč

English Title

Tearful Eyes

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1983

Production Year

1983

Production specifications

withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1989

Premiere

premiere 1 April 1984 /suitable for youths/

Creative Group

2. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Josef Císař (vedoucí 2. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

77 min

Original length in metres

2 215 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