Two Boys under Fire

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1983

Production year

1983

Premiere

1 April 1985

Runtime

75 min

Category

film

Genre

children, drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Dva kluci v palbě

Czech title

Dva kluci v palbě

English title

Two Boys under Fire

Summary

In 1983, director Václav Gajer ended his filmmaking career with a wartime story of two young village boys, who in the spring of 1945 experience many adventures with their new-found friend – partisan Jan. During the 1970s, Gajer achieved renown for a film trilogy about an inquisitive Prague boy, experiencing holiday-time adventures while living with his grandfather-guardian (Pod Jezevčí skálou – Beneath Badger Rock, 1978; Na pytlácké stezce – On the Poacher’s Path, 1979; Za trnkovým keřem – Behind the Blackthorn, 1980). The escapist adventures continue with this adaptation of a work by Bohumila Říha. As in the trilogy, the nine-year-old central character is called Vašek – and also embarks on new adventures from a gamekeeper’s lodge. But instead of poachers, the young boy and his friend Dušan (David Strupek) encounter some malicious German snipers. Czech actors Jaroslava Obermaierová, Vítězslav Jandák and Jana Švandová join a cast also featuring Russian and German actors.

Synopsis

It is the spring of 1945. The nine-year old Vašek Boček lives with his parents in a gamekeeper's lodge outside a village. The father gamekeeper decides that they must escape to the mountains before the approaching front. They send Vašek to get their aunt, and the family with its cow then settles in an abandoned hayloft on the hillside of Skalka hill. The parents continue to the mountains to meet the partisans. Vašek, shepherding the cow, runs into the parachutist Jano and brings him for lunch to the hayloft. Jano's mission is to watch the moves of the Germans in the valley from the hill. In the afternoon, Jano brings over the boy Dušan whose father was taken away by the Germans to dig trenches. The aunt decides that Dušan should stay with them. The roaring of canons betrays that the front is getting closer. Jano, helped by the boys, digs a dugout shelter and orders everyone to move in there. Although forbidden to do so, the boys climb up Jano's observation post and must take cover from the German snipers. Jano shoots them. Soldiers and partisans come to Skalka, with Vašek's father among them. They prepare for a decisive attack. The boys, hidden in the dugout, listen to the shooting. But all of a sudden, it is quiet, the fighting is over. The partisans bring over the wounded including Jano. The boys look for the cow and find her by their demolished gamekeeper's lodge. The cow, however, steps on a mine and explodes. Although the village is burnt down, its inhabitants are happy - there is finally peace. Daddy comforts mum - they will build a new, more beautiful lodge in the time of peace.

Cast

Jakub Štěpán

Vašek Boček

Stanislav Král

parašutista Jano

Jevgenij Žarikov

starší seržant

Ljudmila Gladunko

zdravotní sestra Rima

Boris Tokarev

mladší seržant

Hans-Jürgen Pabst

německý poručík

Hartmut Beer

rotný

Elke Brosch

zdravotní sestra

Karol Orban

Jarda

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Vladimír Zelenka

Assistant Director

Martin Faltýn

Based on

Bohumil Říha (Dva kluci v palbě – román)

Director of Photography

Jan Němeček

Second Unit Photography

Pavel Nečesal

Camera Operator

Lubomír Moravec

Production Designer

Jan Oliva

Assistent Production Designer

Jaroslav Řeřicha

Costume Designer

Marta Kaplerová

Film Editor

Petr Sitár

Sound Designer

Adam Kajzar

Stunts

Pavel Cajzl, Pavel Cechl, Vladimír Čumpelík, Petr Klein, Ladislav Kocourek, Jan Kriesman, Zdeněk Krumpl, Jiří Kuba, Lubomír Mindoš, Martin Novák (2), Josef Pechanec, Petr Sekanina, Miroslav Schauer, Zbyněk Šmakal, Jaroslav Špáňa, Jaroslav Tomsa, Ivan Varga, Karel Vávrovec, Václav Veverka, Jaroslav Vlk, Pavel Želízko

Production Manager

Vladimír Vojta

Unit Production Manager

Milana Melcerová, Ivan Helcl

Unit Production Manager

Michal Hvozdák, Karel Lupoměský

Consultant

genpor. František Šádek

Cooperation

Barbora Bílková (klapka), Miroslav Pešan (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Luboš Sluka

Selected Music

Ludwig van Beethoven (Symfonie č. 5 c moll /Osudová/), Dmitrij Šostakovič (Symfonie č. 7 C dur)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Mario Klemens)

Songs

Kalinka

Song Composer Ivan Petrovič Larionov

Povedzte mojej materi

Singer Stanislav Král

ruská vojenská píseň

Singer Jevgenij Šutov

Jičínský pan farář pěkně káže

Singer Jaroslava Obermaierová

In der Heimat, da gibt's ein Wiedersehen

Song Composer Wilhelm Lindemann
Writer of Lyrics Wilhelm Lindemann
Singer sbor

Production info

Original Title

Dva kluci v palbě

Czech Title

Dva kluci v palbě

English Title

Two Boys under Fire

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children, drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1983

Production Year

1983

Production specifications

withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1990

Premiere

gala premiere 23 April 1984 (kino Lucerna, Praha)
premiere 26 April 1984 /suitable for youths/ (kino Jalta, Praha)
premiere 1 April 1985 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Creative Group

4. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Stanislav Rudolf (vedoucí 4. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

75 min

Original length in metres

2 164 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