Seclusion
Category
filmGenre
drama, étudeTypology
featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent filmshortOriginal title
SamotyCzech title
SamotyEnglish title
SeclusionSynopsis
It is 1943 and the Odessa inhabitants are hiding in the labyrinth of tunnels before German occupants. Among them there are large groups of Slovak young men who fled from the fascist Slovakian State. Three of them are charged by command of the city defence led by General Amolov to find new and safer ways out of the underground. The hungry and thirsty young men have been walking for quite a long time in the dark and they are fighting because they are nervous and desperate. An explosion on the surface had filled up the tunnel and it seems they cannot be rescued. But then a flame of their kerosene lamp moves all of a sudden. The young men consider whether to use a mine which they have as an ammunition for opening the way. Somewhere above them there must be a place called Samoty (Seclusion). In the end they build a barrier from stones and with the last match they fire the mine off. The explosion makes fortunately a hole leading to the air and daily light.
Note
Beneath Odessa and its surroundings, there are hundrerds of kilometres of tunnels which originate from the mining of shelly limestone. Its rich reserves had originated once from sedimentation on the bottom of the sea covering the Southern Ukraine in the prehistory. Odessa was occupied for two years, five months and twenty six days by Nazis and the resistance fighters were hiding in the catacombs (since 1941). Katajev, a Russian writer on whose book The defended Odessa the film is based, knew this region of the Usatovs seclusion well from his childhood.
Photos
Cast
Commentary
Crew and creators
Director
Based on
Bohuslav Chňoupek (Slováci z katakomb – povídka z knihy Generál se lvem), Valentin Katajev (Bránili Oděsu – kniha)
Screenplay
Director of Photography
Production Manager
Pedagogical management
Jiří Sequens (režie), Bořivoj Zeman (režie), Jiří Macháně (kamera), Viola Zelenková (produkce)
Production info
Original Title
Samoty
Czech Title
Samoty
English Title
Seclusion
Category
film
Typology
featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent film
Genre
drama, étude
Student film
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1978
Production Year
1978
Production
Technical info
Duration typology
short film
Duration in minutes
12 min
Original length in metres
321 meters
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
