To the Very End
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1984Production year
1984Premiere
1 December 1985Runtime
92 minDirector
Antonín KopřivaCategory
filmGenre
drama, psychological, warTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Až do konceCzech title
Až do konceEnglish title
To the Very EndSummary
Director Antonín Kopřiva set his 1984 psychological drama in the Sudetenland at the very end of World War II. Based on a novel by Otakar Chaloupka, the film describes the fates of a handful of Nazis who barricade themselves inside a deserted mansion along with seven young women, forced-labour workers from a local factory. The hostages, kept as a negotiating card to be played when the Red Army arrives, recount their past experiences and derive from each other the courage to face the looming climax. They eventually decide to attempt a desperate escape… Two of the Nazis were played by Eduard Cupák and Vítězslav Jandák. Despite the different nationalities of the film’s heroines, they were all portrayed by young Czech actresses: Veronika Gajerová, Kateřina Lojdová, Eva Kulichová, Yvetta Kornová and Miriam Chytilová.
Synopsis
It is May 8, 1945, and a train full of fleeing SS members is in ruins after an allied air force attack. A commissioned officer and a few surviving soldiers find shelter in a nearby abandoned château, which was probably the site of the Nazi executive. The soldiers detain seven young girls. Only one of them, the German Karin, believes in a German victory to the very end. The SS officer gives her a gun and entrusts her to guard the other captives in a cellar, for they should serve as hostages against the approaching Red Army. The NCO Otto meanwhile safeguards the building with weapons, pointing the machine gun at the nearby bridge – the only access road. The sentry Sigi commits a suicide and the remaining three soldiers run away. They are, however, soon shot by Soviet soldiers. The girls cast their minds back on their families. Two of them, Helga and Tereza, were from mixed marriages between Czechs and Germans, which were common in the borderland before the war. The French Simona was one of the displaced persons. The seamstress Marie was unfortunate enough to take a new dress to the stationmaster's wife at the railway station and found her and her husband murdered. The Czech Věra thinks of her groom Jochen, a boy from the neighbourhood who as a German had to join the army and died at the front. The Polish Halina fled from a concentration camp. The girls convince Karin to escape together. But they cannot stand waiting till dark, and the SS soldiers easily shoot the girls running over the bridge. The officer dies in the Soviet retaliatory attack. Otto survives, but only as a blind invalid.
Note
Méhul´s melody from the opera Joseph (1807) was misused for the NSDAP anthem when Horst Wessel (1907–1930) wrote lyrics for it known as Die Fahne Hoch (later called Horst Wessel Lied).
Photos
Cast
Eduard Cupák
hauptsturmführer SS /kapitán/
Vítězslav Jandák
scharführer SS /rotný/ Otto
Veronika Gajerová
Němka Karin Baumannová
Zdeňka Sajfertová
Helga, otec Němec-matka Češka
Eva Salzmannová
Češka Věra
Eva Kulichová
Polka Halina
Miriam Chytilová
švadlena Marie
Yvetta Kornová
Tereza, matka Němka-otec Čech
Kateřina Lojdová
Francouzka Simona
Michal Pavlata
Horst, Ottův kamarád
Daniel Netušil
strážný Sigi
Jaroslav Kohut
voják Kurt
Adolf Kohuth
voják Hans
Zdeněk Podhůrský
voják Ernstl
Pavel Cajzl
Heinrich
Jiří Němeček
Horák, otec Terezy
Emma Černá
Trudi Horáková, matka Terezy
Zdeněk Ornest
Abélard, otec Simony
Jaroslava Tichá
Abélardová, matka Simony
Jaroslav Tomsa
otec Karin
Jana Andresíková
matka Karin
Antonín Molčík
otec Věry
Marta Richterová
matka Věry
Antonín Brtoun
otec Haliny
Jana Altmannová
matka Haliny
Roman Hájek
Jochen Heller, Věřin ženich
Milan Riehs
úředník Fischer /Gruppenleiter/
Marie Spurná
Voice by Bohumila Dolejšová
vedoucí BDM /Bund Deutscher Mädel/
Nina Jiránková
majitelka krejčovství Mattauschová
Vlastimil Drbal
venkovský hoch
Alice Chrtková
švadlena Utte
Petra Jindrová
švadlena Ingrid
Ladislav Lahoda
spojenecký pilot
Petr Lepša
ruský voják
Otta Tesař
ruský voják
František Stupka
gestapák
Petr Jákl
gestapák
Václav Burkert
přednosta
Růžena Jedličková
přednostová
Miroslav Jíra
tankista
Ludvík Pozník
pohlavár SS
Jiří Klenot
důstojník SS
Zdeněk Skalický
důstojník SS
Antonín Kopřiva
ruský voják
Jan Zvoník
učedník Franz
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Zora Vondráčková
Continuity
Based on
Otakar Chaloupka (Až do konce – novela)
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Dramaturg
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Ladislav Balous, Miloslav Dvořák, Karel Plaňanský
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
František Pilný, Ladislav Bacílek, Valerie Pitelková, Zdenka Prchlíková
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Special Effects
Jiří Rumler, Milan Nejedlý, Antonín Weiser, Ludvík Malý
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Milada Věchetová
Consultant
Karel Richter, plk. Ing. Josef Pavlík, Jaroslav Tomsa, Jan Kropáček
Cooperation
Ivan Minář (fotograf), Klára Stránská
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
FISYO (Music Conducted by Mario Klemens)
Songs
Die Fahne hoch /Horst Wessel Lied/
Song Composer Etienne Nicolas Méhul
Writer of Lyrics Horst Wessel
Singer sbor
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
Song Composer Franz Xaver Gruber
Writer of Lyrics Joseph Mohr
Singer dívčí sbor
Production info
Original Title
Až do konce
Czech Title
Až do konce
English Title
To the Very End
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
drama, psychological, war
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1984
Production Year
1984
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 22 February 1984
start of filming 9 April 1984
technical Screenplay approved 16 April 1984
end of filming 30 November 1984
projection approval 29 December 1984
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1990
Premiere
premiere 1 December 1985 /unsuitable for youths/
Production
Copyright Holders
Distribution
Creative Group
6. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina Tvůrčí mládí, Jan Vild (vedoucí 6. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny Tvůrčí mládí)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
92 min
Original length in metres
2 626 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
