Pure River

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1978

Production year

1977—1978

Premiere

10 November 1978

Runtime

87 min

Category

film

Genre

social, psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Čistá řeka

Czech title

Čistá řeka

English title

Pure River

Working title

Co se říká po městě

Summary

In 1978, director Štěpán Skalský responded to the contemporary call for films about topical social themes by co-writing a screenplay for an ecological drama titled Čistá řeka (Pure River) with screenwriter Karel Steigerwald. The hero of this accessible film is a newly graduated, idealistic hygienist, Pavel, who encounters gross violations of the regulations in a district town. When he tries to change the situation, the head of the textile factory that is polluting the local river blocks all of his efforts. The resigned protagonist, played attractively by Slovak actor Juraj Ďurdiak, is the prototype of the young hero through whom the creators of films in the era of “normalisation” pointed to selected evils of the times.

Synopsis

Fresh graduate Pavel Tomáš enters a job as an assistant in a district town's public health office. As the health officials pass the river Kamenice, Pavel notices large patches of foam on the water surface, and the river also has an unpleasant smell. Pavel's superior Dr Slivenec is a nice and talkative man, but the suggested radical solutions to the violations of public health norms are greatly diluted after a phone-call is made by somebody influential who calls on behalf of the offender. The director of the local textile factory Tesner is giving an interview. Editor Hloch asks only for positive information, and the photographer Trejbal takes shots of the modern factory plants. Tesner's daughter Lenka, a journalism student, puts a dead fish on her father's table. Tesner doesn't deny his factory's responsibility but there is no money to resolve the problem and the factory provides work for half the town population. Pavel, who is slowly pushing through a plan to build a purification plant, falls in love with the attractive Lenka. She writes a highly critical ecological article but swiftly pulls it back when her career is threatened. Despite Pavel's efforts, the purification plant will still not be built. The young man doesn't feel strong enough to fight the small-town gossip and prejudices and accepts a post as an assistant at the university in Prague. The capricious Lenka is undecided between her present lover Trejbal and Pavel who has fallen in love with her. When she finally leaves the fickle photographer, Pavel is no longer to be found at his former flat.

Cast

Juraj Ďurdiak

hygienik MUDr. Pavel Tomáš

Anna Wetlinská

studentka Lenka Tesnerová

Přemysl Matoušek

ředitel textilky Tesner, Lenčin otec

Václav Voska

MUDr. Slivenec, Tomášův nadřízený

Jana Švandová

sekretářka Holcová

Jaroslava Tichá

Pavlova matka

František Němec

fotograf Trejbal

Miroslav Donutil

redaktor Hloch

František Řehák

krajský hygienik Lošťák

Karel Gult

vedoucí akumulátorky Vávra

Karel Koloušek

hygienik Mácha

Alois Liškutín

vodohospodář Havel

Jiří Mikota

korektor v redakci

Václav Babka

muž na lavičce

Miroslav Bezdíček

muž na mostě

Soňa Dvořáková

kráska u Trejbala

Taťána Bártová

modelka

Blanka Blahníková

sekretářka u Tobiáše

Zdeněk Braunschläger

host na večírku

Mirko Musil

host na večírku

Miloš Vavruška

host na večírku

Zdeněk Hess

silný mladík

Jiří Cerha

osamělý muž

Petr Brožek

hudebník

Petr Kodl

hudebník

Oldřich Krupauer

hudebník

Zdeněk Šiška

hudebník

Ivan Vašek

hudebník

Helena Arnetová

Tomášova partnerka

Marie Dudáková

neznámá dívka

Lýdie Krafková

veselá žena

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Lada Vacková

Assistant Director

Josef Jarolímek, Jarmila Čajová

Shooting Script

Štěpán Skalský

Director of Photography

Andrej Barla

Second Unit Photography

Pavel Dosoudil

Camera Operator

Jiří Knotek

Production Designer

Karel Lier

Assistent Production Designer

Libuše Jahodová

Set Designer

Eva Slívová, Karel Vaňásek, Vladimír Schejbal

Costume Designer

Svatava Sophová

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Magda Hájková, Helena Lehovcová

Sound Designer

Adolf Böhm

Production Manager

Jan Syrový

Cooperation

Ivana Malíková (klapka), Jiří Kučera (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Karel Svoboda

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Discobolos

Production info

Original Title

Čistá řeka

Czech Title

Čistá řeka

English Title

Pure River

Working Title

Co se říká po městě

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

social, psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1978

Production Year

1977—1978

Production specifications

start of filming 29 August 1977
literary Screenplay approved 12 September 1977
technical Screenplay approved 26 September 1977
end of filming 17 February 1978
projection approval 9 March 1978
withdrawal from distribution 31 December 1986

Premiere

premiere 10 November 1978 /unsuitable for youths/

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Miloše Brože, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

87 min

Original length in metres

2 300 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech