Wait Until the Oak Loses Its Leaves

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1991

Production year

1991

Premiere

28 November 2002

Runtime

28 min

Category

film

Genre

fairytale

Typology

animatedtheatrical distributionshort

Original title

Až opadá listí z dubu

Czech title

Až opadá listí z dubu

English title

Wait Until the Oak Loses Its Leaves

Summary

The story of the famed cleverness and wit of the simple farmer Čupera, who not only wins out over the demon of alcohol, but also over a bureaucratically relentless and thorough devil. The hell, which the farmer experiences during the detoxication cure, is in the style of a honky-tonk bar, a galley with prison and dehumanized night club .

Synopsis

An innkeeper pours rum to young peasant Čupera. The more Čupera drinks, the more his house and his farm fall apart. – Čupera was already completely in debt, and his wife Julinka had begged him several times to choose between her and drinking. – In a neglected field, the farmer is visited by the quite polite Devil. He promises to give the alcoholic four times more harvest for a thing that he has at home and does not know about. – Čupera meets a midwife at the doorstep, who tells him that his new born son Jeník is with his mother inside. – When the peasant receives the Devil's gift, he goes to hang himself in the cemetery. But the branch breaks and he shares his dark secret with the beggar Pompadůrka. The old woman covers her body in honey, rolls in feathers, Čupera sits on her back and rides her towards the devil who has saddled up the fox. According to the original agreement, the bureaucratical Devil returns the contract to Čupera, because the human arrived in a more original way than he did. – But the peasant starts drinking again. Eventually, he calls the Devil again to save him from drinking. In exchange for a cure, he promises to give his soul "when the leaves fall from the oak." Čupera a medical examination and then a challenging rehab in the Hell (in a cabaret and in the prison where he had to turn the pater-noster handle). – Čupera starts a new and better life and is planning a second child. When the Devil comes for him in autumn, he shows him an oak branch, from which dry leaves fall only in spring, when new ones blossom. The Devil angrily tears the oak leaves from the tree. – Čupera's daughter is born, but he refuses to celebrate with a drink. He says that he will drink "when the leaves fall from the oak".

Commentary

Crew and creators

Based on

Jan Werich (Až opadá listí z dubu – pohádka z knihy Fimfárum)

Commentary by

Jiří Kubíček

Dramaturg

Edgar Dutka

Director of Photography

Vladimír Malík

Art Director

Petr Poš

Sound Designer

Ivo Špalj

Production Manager

Bedřich Strnad

Music

Music Composed by

Petr Hapka

Production info

Original Title

Až opadá listí z dubu

Czech Title

Až opadá listí z dubu

English Title

Wait Until the Oak Loses Its Leaves

Category

film

Typology

animatedtheatrical distribution

Genre

fairytale

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1991

Production Year

1991

Production specifications

the end of the distribution monopoly 22 December 2027

Premiere

premiere 28 November 2002 /suitable for all ages/ (kino Blaník, Praha)
renewed premiere 22 December 2022 /suitable for all ages without limit/

Distribution slogan

„Fairytales are like chains... they circle the world and connect people from all sides.“ /Jan Werich/ (2002) / The Czech puppet classic is back in cinemas after twenty years. Dusted, digitized! (2022)

Production

Krátký Film Praha a. s., Studio Jiřího Trnky (Krátký Film Praha a. s.)

Copyright Holders

Krátký Film Praha a. s.

Distribution

Falcon (původní 2002), Anifilm Distribution (obnovená 2022)

Technical info

Duration typology

short film

Duration in minutes

28 min

Distribution carrier

35mm, DCP 2-D, MP4

Animation technique

puppet

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, commentary

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Anketa internetového magazínu InIndieWire o 250 nejlepších krátkých animovaných filmů

2012
Los Angeles / United States of America

Vítěz

Event: Prémie Českého literárního fondu v oblasti filmu za rok 1992

1992
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Vlasta Pospíšilová