The Fortress

Country

Czech Republic, France

Copyright

1994

Production year

1994

Premiere

24 November 1994

Runtime

96 min

Category

film

Genre

drama, psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Pevnost

Czech title

Pevnost

English title

The Fortress

Co-production title

La forteresse

Working title

Svár vody s vínem

Summary

In a remote part of country there is a severely guarded fortress. What is it that is so strictly guarded in the fortress? In the whole region the dreadful fear prevails. At the end of the gripping story it turns out that nothing is guarded in the fortress. The hero of the story Ewald who finds that out and who refuses to accept whatever compromise has to be crushed and the public secret must remain secret because those, who live on this nonsense, would lose raison d’etre for their existence. The archetypal story of Ewald refers to the past years of the Communist regime but its timeless existential dimension goes beyond the scope of any concrete historic situation.

Cast

Geörgy Cserhalmi

Ewald

Miroslav Donutil

důstojník

Josef Kemr

Petrásek

Luboš Tokoš

farář

Jan Schmid

úředník

Ilja Prachař

funkcionář

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Standa Čubal Rovný

Assistant Director

Martin Čihák

Based on

Alexandr Kliment (Monopol – povídka)

Director of Photography

Jiří Macák

Second Unit Photography

Jiří Ondráček

Camera Operator

Vladimír Murat

Production Designer

Vladimír Labský

Set Designer

Václav Hrubín

Costume Designer

Olga Vyleťalová

Make-Up Artist

Libuše Beranová

Sound Designer

Libor Sedláček

Special Effects

Jiří Berger

Stunts

FILMKA

Production Manager

Eva Ctiborová

Consultant

FAUNA-FILM

Cooperation

Emil Bratršovský (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Stivín

Music Performed by

Josef Hora /varhany/

Songs

písně skupiny Citrón

písně skupiny Jasná páka

Production info

Original Title

Pevnost

Czech Title

Pevnost

English Title

The Fortress

Co-production Title

La forteresse

Working Title

Svár vody s vínem

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama, psychological

Origin country

Czech Republic, France

Copyright

1994

Production Year

1994

Premiere

festival premiere 22 September 1994 (42. mezinárodní filmový festival San Sebastián, Španělsko)
premiere 24 November 1994 /recommended for 12 and over/

Distribution slogan

There is no point in a defencelessness unless in produces sacrifice. But just like that, for no reason at all... About the clash of an individual with the omnipotent machinery.

Distribution

KF a. s.

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

96 min

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, Slovak

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: Mezinárodní filmový festival Casablanca

1995
Casablanca / Morocco
György Cserhalmi

Vítěz

Festival: Mezinárodní filmový festival Lisabon

1995
Lisabon / Portugal

Vítěz

Festival: Mezinárodní filmový festival Sainte-Thérèse

1995
Sainte-Thérèse / Canada

Vítěz

Festival: Mezinárodní filmový festival Štrasburk

1995
Štrasburk / France

Vítěz

Festival: Mezinárodní filmový festival San Sebastián

1995
San Sebastián / Spain

Vítěz

Exhibition: Těrlické filmové léto – 3. přehlídka polských a českých filmů

1995
Těrlicko / Czech Republic

Vítěz

Festival: 42. mezinárodní filmový festival San Sebastián

1994
San Sebastián / Spain