Experiment Eva

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1985

Production year

1985

Premiere

1 April 1986

Runtime

90 min

Category

film

Genre

psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Experiment Eva

Czech title

Experiment Eva

English title

Experiment Eva

Working title

Óda na radost

Summary

In the mid-eighties, screenwriter and director Jaroslav Balík tried to give voice to the problems of an ambitious young woman who decides to get back to work after a few years spent on maternity leave. Surprisingly Eva Hübnerová (Polish actress Magdalena Wollejko) does not have any difficulties finding a job as a teacher or a place for her son Tomáš in kindergarten, and she does not suffer from low self-esteem. The troubles the relief teacher encounters in this 1985 release are solely related to socialist morality at the local high school, which Eva is firmly committed to applying to her husband Arnošt (Josef Abrhám). Thanks to his dental profession, he can secure the family financially, but he has started to succumb to pragmatic, small-town prejudices. Nor is everything as the idealistic heroine imagines at school. One determined woman, however, can make a difference.

Synopsis

The young married couple, the Hübners, always solve their disputes in the roof of their house in order to conceal them from their little son Tomáš. Eva married the dentist Arnošt as a student and delivered the child soon after graduating from the pedagogical faculty. The material situation of the family substantially improved thanks to Arnošt's lucrative profession. They started in a lodging six years ago and now have a spacious apartment. But Arnošt changed as well. He was appointed to many offices; he has numerous influential friends and he has turned into a pragmatic petty-bourgeois man. The next quarrel is caused by Eva's resolution to start teaching at the local grammar school in September. There, she meets the physics teacher Hrábek who once taught her, and is also introduced to the ambitious Zdeněk Navara, whose pride is the modern audiovisual classroom. Eva writes quotes on the blackboard every week. She perceives her work as an experiment which should either prove or disprove her opinion about the morals of the socialist society. She finds out that the modern classroom, which was even praised by the press, was never actually launched. Eva invites her students to her home which is now the only place to play them Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. She gets into conflict at the school meeting when she proposes recycling the equipment of the hi-end schoolroom in the framework of a recycling contest. The irritated schoolmaster decides to observe her teaching. Eva fails the inspection because the student Břéa does not answer her questions at all, telling her later that he wants to be expelled. He never wanted to study and he is protected only due to his achievements in the school basketball team. The Hübners' quarrels intensify and Eva feels unsuccessful even at work. When Arnošt leaves for a golf tournament, Eva spends a night with Zdeněk. She receives a tempting offer to work as a methodologist in the school administration - only she would thus compromise her principles. The physics teacher Hrábek recommends her not to give up in her disputes. Arnošt reveals to Eva that the offer was arranged by him and Eva confesses to him her momentary infidelity. Almost the entire town attends Hrábek's funeral. One day, the little Tomᚠgets lost near the cottage. The parents find him in the field where an older boy hired him to work for him. Arnošt explains to his son that this is not ethical. He lets his wife drive their car as proof of their reconciliation. Eva decides to stay at the school.

Cast

Magdalena Wołłejko

Voice by Veronika Žilková
učitelka Eva Hübnerová

Josef Abrhám

zubař Arnošt, Evin manžel

Ota Sklenčka

učitel fyziky Hrábek

Viktor Preiss

učitel Zdeněk Navara

Hanna Bieluszko

Voice by Ljuba Krbová
Helena Urbanová

Rudolf Hrušínský ml.

Pavel, Helenin manžel

Jana Štěpánková

učitelka Zora Kazdová

Jan Teplý

stavbyvedoucí Standa Brožek

Valerie Zawadská

Standova přítelkyně

Bohumila Dolejšová

učitelka Blanka

Edmund Karwański

Voice by Miroslav Moravec
ředitel gymnázia

Bořivoj Navrátil

učitel Hubáček

Jana Gýrová

Olga Váchová, Arnoštova bývalá láska

Věra Uzelacová

Máša, Baltazarova žena

Pavel Kocourek

student Břéťa Poživil

Tomáš Řezníček

Tomášek, syn Hübnerových

Miluše Šplechtová

Sofie z divadelního představení Hoře z rozumu

Ivan Richter

Čackij z divadelního představení Hoře z rozumu

Karel Gult

Lojza, Arnoštův spolužák

Markéta Valentová

nová učitelka Eva Hečková

Sabina Hánová

sekretářka

Karel Meister ml.

učitel Erben

Jana Hrubá

učitelka

Pavel Grégr

zákazník

Soňa Hrbková

studentka Šárka

Dominika Kopřivová

studentka Jitka

Martin Moravec

student Bršlica

Stanislav Vaidiš

student Ríša

Robin Vogel

student Jožka

Marta Karbusická

abiturientka

Jiří Klapka

abiturient

Martin Burian

student

Hynek Coufal

student

Michaela Deverová

studentka

Petr Drábek

student

Martina Fišerová

studentka

Petr Heřmánek

student

Lenka Hubáčková

studentka

Irena Karbanová

studentka

Lenka Kundelová

studentka

Barbora Nerušilová

studentka

Martin Novák

student

Štěpánka Nováková

studentka

Jaroslav Novotný (3)

student

Jaroslav Pospíšil (2)

student

Bohumila Příhodová

studentka

Zdena Růžičková

studentka

Pavlína Slepičková

studentka

Jakub Šram

student

Ondřej Šram

student

Renata Theinerová

studentka

Jiří Uher

student

Hana Urbanová

studentka

Michal Vondrák

student

Vladimír Wolf

student

Martina Zoulová

studentka

Igor Smržík

Arnoštův spolužák

Václav Brouček

tanečník

Marcela Hálová

tanečnice

Jan Havránek

Kulíšek

Jiří Furdze

hudebník

Leopold Chadura

hudebník

Jaroslav Volejník

hudebník

Josef Zajíc

hudebník

Miroslav Trpák

architekt

Judita Kraslová

zdravotní sestra

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Josef Jarolímek

Assistant Director

Irena Krestová, František Nejedlý

Screenstory

Jaroslav Balík

Screenplay

Jaroslav Balík

Shooting Script

Jaroslav Balík

Director of Photography

Jaroslav Brabec

Second Unit Photography

Jiří Krejčík

Camera Operator

Jiří Zavřel

Production Designer

Jiří Hlupý

Assistent Production Designer

Martin Malý

Set Designer

Ivan Ernyei, Jiří Libánský, Dana Smržová

Costume Designer

Radka Kubková

Film Editor

Eva Bobková

Assistant Film Editor

Magda Hájková, Helena Lehovcová

Sound Designer

Jiří Kříž

Unit Production Manager

Adriena Jirková, Hana Jarošová

Unit Production Manager

Kryštof Navrátil

Consultant

dr. Zdeněk Nádvorník

Cooperation

Zdeněk Vávra (fotograf)

Music

Selected Music

Ludwig van Beethoven (Symfonie č. 9 d moll /Óda na radost/)

Music Selected by

Jaroslav Balík

Production info

Original Title

Experiment Eva

Czech Title

Experiment Eva

English Title

Experiment Eva

Working Title

Óda na radost

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1985

Production Year

1985

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 29 November 1984
start of filming 1 February 1985
technical Screenplay approved 1 March 1985
end of filming 11 November 1985
projection approval 3 December 1985
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1990

Premiere

premiere 1 April 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

90 min

Original length in metres

2 579 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