Swindle

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1985

Production year

1985

Premiere

1 June 1986

Runtime

76 min

Director

Jan Schmidt

Category

film

Genre

comedy, crime

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Podfuk

Czech title

Podfuk

English title

Swindle

Working title

Kdo s koho

Summary

The embezzlement of socialist property and moonlighting in the construction industry are the issues explored in Jan Schmidt’s Podfuk (Swindle, 1985), a moralistic comedy with something of a crime drama about it. The main protagonist of the story is upright engineer Severa, who unexpectedly receives one hundred thousand crowns via the mail. The sender´s address is not legitimate and Severa reports the case to the police. It soon becomes clear that our hero – a housing estate planner – has become the unwilling victim of a corruption scam that is backed by one of his acquisitive colleagues (played by Jiří Pleskot)... A somewhat implausible tale acquires a human face thanks to the talents of Ondřej Havelka in the leading role. He wrings interest from the hero´s relationship with a charming taxi driver Táňa (Tatiana Kulíšková) and his passion for swing music, which allows Havelka to show off his professional singing abilities.

Synopsis

Engineer Libor Severa, the designer of the Omega construction studio, receives one hundred thousand crowns by mail one day. The money has to be picked up, so he calls a cab right away and leaves to meet the sender. The address is, however, fictitious. A sparkle of affection leaps between the taxi driver Táňa and Libor and the two young people start dating. Severa reports the case about the money to the police and Lieutenant Škoda is charged with the investigation. He first focuses his attention on Severa's closest background - his work. His visit to the studio arouses discontent, mainly from Severa's boss. Engineer Petřík from the construction enterprise in Bílá Bříza complains about Severa who had designed a new modern housing estate for the town. But Severa unexpectedly learns that the three-hectare landed estate was sold off for the construction of detached houses. The given reason is that the estate is undermined and it would not withstand the construction of tall buildings. The young engineer cannot accept the situation. He searches for facts, finding out that there were numerous swindles in the expert assessments. Lieutenant Škoda, too, continues investigating and reveals that those who wanted to build the detached houses paid five thousand crowns for the estate and forty thousand crowns to engineeer Petřík for his "mediation". Petřík bought an expensive villa for his son with the money and sent one hundred thousand to Severa to silence him. Petřík's swindle is exposed but the villa is left to his son because he reportedly bought it for two hundred and fifty thousand. But some suspicion still sticks to Libor for his participation in the intrigues. At that moment, Táňa interferes. She publicly accuses Petřík's son of deceit and slaps him accross his face.

Film online

Cast

Ondřej Havelka

projektant Ing. Libor Severa

Tatiana Kulíšková

taxikářka Táňa Brychtová

Bronislav Poloczek

poručík VB Škoda

Jiří Pleskot

Ing. Josef Petřík

Stanislav Fišer

Ing. Zich, Severův šéf

Vlastimil Fišar

major VB Koubek

Radka Fidlerová

geoložka Ing. Tůmová

Jan Skopeček

tajemník MNV Janeček

Miroslav Masopust

dr. Rudolf Petřík

Ladislav Potměšil

stavebník Jirous

Roman Hájek

projektant Dlesk

Vladimír Hrabánek

vrtač Šiška

Dana Balounová

teta Růža

Vladimír Hrubý

prastrýc Hugo

Miloš Vávra

Kalousův syn

Zuzana Fišárková

úřednice Hálková

Jitka Zelenohorská

úřednice na matrice

Marie Durnová

vedoucí pošty

Antonín Hardt

inženýr Helebrant, zástupce investora

Josef Ježek

Anton

Miroslav Lochman

vnuk Josefa Petříka

Zdeňka Sajfertová

kolegyně Jarmilka

Jan Hraběta

kytarista skupiny Pašáci

Zuzana Skalická

sekretářka

Hana Součková

úřednice geodézie

Milan Klacek

Vašíček, prodejce vily

Vladimír Kudla

stavebník Morávek

Jiří Matolín

kriminalista

Pavel Chalupa

podporučík Hnízdo

Petr Branda

hudebník

Vladimír Jurásek

hudebník

Josef Pilař

hudebník

Karel Železný

hudebník

Crew and creators

Director

Jan Schmidt

Second Unit Director

Martin Faltýn

Assistant Director

Zdeněk Fiala, Dalibor Fiksa

Director of Photography

Richard Valenta

Second Unit Photography

Karel Hejsek

Camera Operator

Petr Hojda, Emil Hora

Production Designer

Jiří Matolín

Assistent Production Designer

Milan Pecák

Set Designer

Jiří Forst

Costume Designer

Marta Kaplerová

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Magda Hájková

Sound Designer

Jiří Kejř

Production Manager

Eliška Nejedlá

Unit Production Manager

Jana Koubová, Zuzana Kovaříková

Unit Production Manager

Gabriela Kerekešová, František Vláčil ml.

Consultant

JUDr. Jan Čech

Cooperation

Zuzana Čvančarová (klapka), Zdeněk Dukát (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Miroslav Kořínek

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán KoníčekMario Klemens)

Songs

Rychlý Bill

Song Composer Ondřej Havelka
Writer of Lyrics Ondřej Havelka
Singer Ondřej HavelkaClassic rock'n'roll bandPetar IntrovičPetr Branda

Production info

Original Title

Podfuk

Czech Title

Podfuk

English Title

Swindle

Working Title

Kdo s koho

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy, crime

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1985

Production Year

1985

Production specifications

start of filming 25 February 1985
end of filming 17 May 1985
the first film copy approved 6 August 1985
projection approval 13 September 1985
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1991

Premiere

premiere 1 June 1986 /suitable for youths/

Creative Group

5. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Miloslav Vydra (vedoucí 5. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

76 min

Original length in metres

2 185 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