The Shadow of a Fern

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1984

Production year

1984

Premiere

1 January 1986

Runtime

90 min

Category

film

Genre

ballad

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Stín kapradiny

Czech title

Stín kapradiny

English title

The Shadow of a Fern

Summary

Directed by František Vláčil, this 1984 film, adapted from a novel by Josef Čapek, was written by Vladimír Körner. The highly experienced director planned for a number of years to make an adaptation of this story, but only realised his dream at the end of his filmmaking career. Along with cinematographer František Uldrich, Vláčil brings to life a concept in which the main characters’ stories are interwoven with the shots of the natural world, which form an integral part of the overall narrative. The main protagonists of Stín kapradiny (The Shadow of a Fern, 1984) are two poachers, Ruda Aksamit and Vašek Kala, on the run from the law after one of them shot and killed a gamekeeper. They end up wandering aimlessly through the woods, becoming increasingly alienated from each other, and causing more irreparable damage… Director Vláčil casts two Polish actors in the main roles: Marek Probosz and Zbigniew Suszynski. Miroslav Macháček appears as the gamekeeper.

Synopsis

The eighteen-year old Ruda Aksamit works in a travertine quarry. The only thing that interests and controls him is his passion for poaching. He goes to the forest armed with a sawn-off shotgun. He is often accompanied by his friend Vašek Kala who prefers to lay poacher's snares. One day, Ruda shoots a roe-deer. As soon as he attempts to finish it off with a hunting knife, he is disturbed by a gamekeeper. Ruda shoots the forest caretaker dead in no time in an ambush. The two friends hide the body under some stones and run away. On the way, they run into an old married couple - the Čepelkas - the undesired witnesses of their presence in the forest. The two young men know that they must disappear from the village. Ruda only keeps the gun which he took from the dead gamekeeper. Vašek is tortured by the idea of the dead man's funeral. They only partially succeed in avoiding people during their escape. They steal money, clothes and a revolver from an abandoned mill. They jump on a goods train on their further way. Ruda sitting together with Vašek gets drunk in a pub at a small railway station and brags about his sexual experience with a Prague prostitute called Valérie. Vašek apparently has no experience with women yet. A gendarme gets on the bus by which they travel next, and the two runaways thus feel they had better get off at the first stop. They can sense that the man of law has noticed them. They run through a forest and meet a man resembling the gamekeeper. Vašek is exhausted by coughing and feverish dreams. Ruda wants to abandon him unscrupulously, but Vašek eventually goes on using the last of his strength. The two are spotted in a cave by a girl from a scout group. A young dressmaker called Rousová goes through the forest, taking a wedding dress to a customer from the neighbouring village. She meets the gendarme Marjánka who is courting her, but the girl turns down his offer of marriage. The runaways lie in wait for the young dressmaker and try to violate her - fortunately without success. Vašek gets scratches on his face during the fight. The dressmaker is saved by the girl scouts who overheard her call for help. Ruda and Vašek get drunk in a railway workers' shed. Vašek, buying alcohol, meets a beggar - yet another man with the gamekeeper's face. When they sing, drunk, they are found by the gendarme Marjánka and Ruda shoots him dead. The rather sensitive Vašek cannot understand Ruda's brutality. The two boys glimpse a white deer but find themselves unable to kill it. They are surrounded in a potato field and become the targets of many bullets. Ruda shoots one of the men dead but then dies himself. Vašek watches over his body all night. In the morning, he kills himself with Ruda's gun before the gendarmers can get to him.

Film online

Cast

Marek Probosz

Voice by Michal Pavlata
Rudolf Aksamit

Zbigniew Suszyński

Voice by Jiří Prager
Václav Kala

Miroslav Macháček

hajný/vagabund/žebrák

František Peterka

otec Aksamit

Vladimír Hlavatý

dědek Čepelka

Milada Ježková

Čepelkova manželka

Josef Patočka

Elsner/dab

Oldřich Velen

nadstrážmistr

Jaroslav Tomsa

strážmistr

Marta Vančurová

švadlena Rousová

Jana Švandová

sklepnice/prostitutka Valérie

Petr Skarke

četník Marjánka

Josef Pechanec

četník

Jaroslav Špáňa

četník

Jaroslav Vlk

četník

Soňa Novotná

výčepní Růženka

Karel Smrž

harmonikář

Dobroslav Čech

hostinský

Zdeněk Podhůrský

výletník ve sportovním voze

Jitka Asterová

dáma na výletě

Martina Gasparovičová

dáma na výletě

Vlastimil Drbal

hospodářův syn Vašek

Karel Bělohradský

řidič autobusu Ipštenský

Slávka Hamouzová

stará žena v autobuse

Vlastimila Vlková

venkovská žena

Josef Blahož

muzikant

Josef Čermák (2)

muzikant

Jan Forejt

muzikant

Josef Fürst

muzikant

Josef Kasl

muzikant

Zdeněk Kesler

muzikant

Jan Kopecký

muzikant

Jaroslav Materna

muzikant

Jiří Miloš

muzikant

Vojtěch Říha

muzikant

Jaroslav Šprunk

muzikant

František Trnka

muzikant

František Zikán

muzikant

Ladislav Vacek

kapelník

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Aleš Dospiva

Assistant Director

Ondřej Balík

Based on

Josef Čapek (Stín kapradiny – novela)

Shooting Script

František Vláčil

Director of Photography

František Uldrich

Second Unit Photography

Jiří Ondráček

Camera Operator

Miroslav Čvorsjuk

Production Designer

Jaromír Švarc

Assistent Production Designer

Roman Květoň

Set Designer

Miloslav Dvořák (vedoucí výpravy), Vladimír Ježek, Josef Večerek

Costume Designer

Theodor Pištěk ml.

Costumes

Zuzana Máchová (vedoucí kostymérka), Věra Mírová

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Magda Hájková

Sound Designer

František Fabián

Production Manager

Vladimír Vojta

Unit Production Manager

Bohumil Vlach, Jarmila Benešová (2)

Unit Production Manager

Eva Kulhánková

Consultant

Josef Vítovec

Cooperation

Barbora Bílková (klapka), Ivan Měšťan (vrchní osvětlovač), Miroslav Jirsa (fotograf), Lenka Kotábová

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří F. Svoboda

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Miroslav Kejmar /sólo na křídlovku/

Songs

Spadl lístek z javora

Song Composer lidová píseň
Singer Marek Probosz [dab]Michal PavlataZbigniew Suszyński [dab]Jiří Prager

Production info

Original Title

Stín kapradiny

Czech Title

Stín kapradiny

English Title

The Shadow of a Fern

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

ballad

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1984

Production Year

1984

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 9 June 1982
start of filming 20 January 1984
technical Screenplay approved 23 February 1984
end of filming 30 November 1984
projection approval 3 January 1985

Premiere

gala premiere 26 September 1985 (kino Blaník, Praha)
premiere 1 January 1986 /unsuitable for youths/

Studio

Hostivař

Creative Group

1. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Jiří Blažek (vedoucí 1. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

90 min

Original length in metres

2 566 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 24. festival českých a slovenských filmů Mariánské Lázně

1986
Mariánské Lázně / Czechoslovakia
Jiří X. Svoboda