Február 2018: Petrolejové lampy, Morgiana, Lásky mezi kapkami deště
Luboš Fišer patrí, popri Zdeňkovi Liškovi a Janovi Klusákovi, k skladateľským osobnostiam, ktoré zásadným spôsobom formovali československú kinematografiu šesťdesiatych až osemdesiatych rokov. Pre filmovú hudbu Luboša Fišera boli typické unikátna melodická invencia, zmysel pre dramatickú situáciu, znamenitá schopnosť vystihnutia atmosféry i zmysel pre humor. Z jeho extrémne obsiahlej filmografie (okolo 300 titulov) sme do nášho cyklu vybrali tri filmy. Petrolejové lampy sú príkladom práce s výrazným melodickým motívom. Morgiana skvele zachytila mysterióznu atmosféru a podčiarkla výtvarnú štylizáciu diela. V hudbe k filmu Lásky mezi kapkami deště Fišer plnohodnotne zapojil do štruktúry príbehu šansón a elektronicky manipulovanú dobovú tanečnú hudbu.
Jozef Červenka
Czech filmmakers have several times been galvanised by the writings of Jaroslav Havlíček. The result in most cases was a film that merged the quality of the literary template and the personality of the particular filmmaker, whether it be Barbora Hlavsová (1942) directed by Martin Frič, Prokletí domu Hajnů (The Curse of the Hajns’ House, 1988) directed by Jiří Svoboda, or Jaromil Jireš’s Helimadoe (1992). However, the most famous adaptation of a Havlíček novel is the psychological drama Petrolejové lampy (Oil Lamps). The film is based on an eponymous novel first published in 1935 as Vyprahlé touhy (Parched Desires) and released again in 1944 following revisions and a change of title. The motion picture was made in 1971 according to a screenplay from Lubor Dohnal, Václav Šašek and Juraj Herz, the last of whom also directed the film. The director, who achieved fame in the 1960s with his excellent drama Spalovač mrtvol (The Cremator, 1968), made Petrolejové lampy into an expressive account of unfulfilled female desires. The main protagonist of the film, set in the early 20th century, is wealthy thirtysomething Štěpa Kiliánová, whose liberalism makes it difficult for her to find a suitor among her social circles in a small town. She ends up marrying her worldly cousin Pavel for whom she harbours a naïve admiration despite knowing that he is merely interested in the dowry. It is only after the wedding that Štěpa finds out that her husband suffers from syphilis. She’s now not only unable to have children, she’s also to suffer her husband’s physical and mental decline… The role of Štěpa was delivered by Iva Janžurová, 30 at the time, in one of her stand-out performances. Janžurová also starred in the main double role in Herz’s romantic drama Morgiana (1972). The actress found a worthy counterpart in Petr Čepek who performed Pavel as an impressive study of the devastation of a conquering, elegant manhood. In 2006, Herz directed a theatrical performance of Petrolejové lampy on the stage of Prague theatre Na Jezerce with Bára Hrzánová and Radek Holub in the two leading roles. In 2013, Radim Špaček and David Jařab recorded a theatrical performance of Petrolejové lampy, which Jařab staged with the Prague Chamber Theatre. The stars on this occasion were Karel Roden and Ivana Uhlířová. Show more
Iva Janžurová has confirmed her acting mastery on the big screen numerous times. One of the seasoned actress’s most unforgettable characters remains her double-role in Juraj Herz’s costume psychological horror Morgiana. The director had given Janžurová a small part in his drama Znamení Raka (Sign of Cancer) (1967). The female lead in Petrolejové lampy (Oil Lamps) (1971) – the luckless Štěpa – foreshadowed further collaboration on Morgiana. Due to the advent of normalisation the loose adaption of Alexander Grin’s romantic novel Jessie and Morgiana was the picture that brought to an end Herz’s “stylised” period, the culmination of which remains Spalovač mrtvol (The Cremator) (1968). Janžurová, meanwhile, was forced to abandon the expressive shades of her acting register that she had been able to give free reign to in Morgiana (though the distinctive, Art Nouveau costumes and make-up did restrict the actress’s register). In the role of two sisters different in age, appearance and character – the younger, kind beauty Klára and the older, ugly and spiteful Viktorie – Janžurová created two utterly antithetical portraits. By contrast with the original book and genre convention, the viewer gradually begins to sympathise with the demonic titular character – in part because within Herz’s chillingly sarcastic, ambiguous conception the naive and good-natured Klára comes across as irritating and fake. The scheming Viktoria, jealous of her sister’s undeserved happiness safeguarded by the love of a handsome lieutenant (Josef Abrhám), is by contrast a vibrant and fascinating character and the audience will her on as she plans to kill Klára discreetly. Herz and screenwriter Vladimír Bor did not pursue the logic of the fact the story concerns one woman afflicted by a split personality; rather a “different” view of the narrative is provided by the eponymous hero – the black cat Morgiana. The camera work of the accomplished Jaroslav Kučera made a marked contribution to the visual appeal and artistic coherence of Herz’s noteworthy picture. Show more
Novelist Jan Otčenášek co-wrote the screenplay of Lásky mezi kapkami deště (Love between the Raindrops), a romantic story with autobiographical elements filmed in 1979 by the respected director Karel Kachyňa. The protagonist of a narrative set in the 1930s is Karel “Kajda” Bursík, whose childhood and teens are spent in Prague’s Žižkov district. His family face all kinds of pressures: his mother dies and his shoe-making father vainly pours his energies into trying to compete with industry leader Baťa. The gifted Kajda tries to escape the fate society has mapped out for him and, by contrast with his labourer older brother Pepan, attends grammar school. However, war is on the horizon – and the character’s first romance with the delicate Pája is accompanied by disillusionment… In his film Kachyňa successfully alternates comic and tragic elements as Kajda’s affair of the heart comes into conflict with his brother’s down-to-earth approach. Divided into six “movements”, the narrative sketches, in a mildly poetic haze, a tough coming of age in a tough period. Its makers evidently borrowed the formal structure (in which individual cabaret numbers reflect the changing social mood) of Bob Fosse’s musical Cabaret (1972). Kachyňa’s favourite cinematographer Jan Čuřík gave the picture an engaging look that balanced the dazzling retro atmosphere with the harsh social context. A number of bizarre small roles performed by leading actors (incl. Rudolf Hrušínský as a voyeuristic pharmacist and Miroslav Macháček as his friend Ráb) help evoke the vanished world of the old working class district. Lukáš Vaculík, then 17, made his screen debut as Kajda, while the seasoned Vladimír Menšík took the role of his father, the luckless cobbler Bursík. Pája was played by Tereza Pokorná in an early appearance. Michal Dlouhý portrayed the young Kajda and Eduard Cupák is the narrator as the now adult protagonist looks back on his younger days. Show more
