The Golden Minister

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1988

Production year

1988

Runtime

14 min

Director

Aleš Kapsa

Category

film

Genre

étude

Typology

featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent filmshort

Original title

Ministr ze zlata

Czech title

Ministr ze zlata

English title

The Golden Minister

Synopsis

A man enters a small French restaurant. He introduces himself to the owner as a high government official, Adrien de Beaumont, explaining his presence as waiting for his driver to mend a puncture. The man impresses the owner – her place has never been visited by anyone of such high position. She is also enchanted by his elegant attire and refined behaviour. The man notices an old mural on the wall. He inspects it and tells the woman that it is a rare work created by a leading master. He moreover immediately proclaims the restaurant a national historical monument and issues a fat cheque to the woman. During the visit, he also learns on the phone that he was meanwhile appointed the minister of national trade, and invites the owner to accompany him to a celebratory concert. He also issues another cheque to the owner to buy a gown for the occassion. The two are then dancing to Strauss’ waltz. Suddenly the door swings open and a woman doctor from a mental asylum with her assistant take the “minister” away. The man leaves peacefully, saying “Our life is just an illusion”.

Cast

Jiří Klem

Adrien de Beaumont

Crew and creators

Director

Aleš Kapsa

Based on

Robert Thomas (Turecká kavárna /Café turc/ – divadelní komedie)

Screenplay

Aleš Kapsa

Director of Photography

Aleš Cigánek

Make-Up Artist

Věra Podpěrová

Production Manager

Ivan Vakaráč

Pedagogical management

Jiří Sequens (režie), Jana Semschová, Jiří Macháně (kamera), Jaromír Šofr (kamera), Josef Valušiak (střih), Čestmír Církva (střih)

Cooperation

Jana Mašíková, Alena Nosková, Jiří Vodárek, Michal Výborný, Zdeněk Zvonek, J. Bosák, F. Kapsa, H. Halasová, Z. Kopecký, M. Prchal, S. Stoilova, Z. Svoboda

Music

Selected Music

Johann Strauss ml. (Na krásném modrém Dunaji)

Songs

In einen kleinen Konditorei /Když do diskrétních cukrárny stěn/

Song Composer Friedrich Raimund Vesely

Production info

Original Title

Ministr ze zlata

Czech Title

Ministr ze zlata

English Title

The Golden Minister

Category

film

Typology

featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent film

Genre

étude

Student film

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1988

Production Year

1988

Production

Studio FAMU

Technical info

Duration typology

short film

Duration in minutes

14 min

Original length in metres

380 meters

Distribution carrier

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