Dynamite

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1989

Production year

1988

Premiere

1 August 1990

Runtime

92 min

Category

film

Genre

adventure

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Dynamit

Czech title

Dynamit

English title

Dynamite

Summary

The world of horse breeding and horse racing is a recurring subject in Czechoslovak film, especially in connection with stories targeted at younger viewers. Such is the case with Dynamit (Dynamite), the 1989 feature-film debut of director Milan Cieslar. The main protagonist is student Martina, who spends a summer working at her uncle’s stud farm. In the course of her stay, she becomes entangled in a drama involving a potential champion horse at the struggling stable named Dynamit. A greedy foreigner wants the prized horse, and sets about acquiring it with the aid of a corrupt trainer, and an outwardly likeable vet, with whom Martina falls in love. Cieslar enriches the gripping tale with traditional genre approaches, and a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere. Lesser-known actors also add to the impact of the work.

Synopsis

It is the summer holidays and the student Martina arrives at Cukenštejn stud farm for her summer job. The farms's director is her uncle, engineer Vlach. The girl loves horses as much as her friend Honza and the young jockey Viktor, the son of the coach Klečka. Vlach is just selling off a stud which keeps losing him money. The paddock is empty except for the talented Dynamite, which Vlach refuses to sell to the foreigner Akedi even for the offered million. Martina becomes interested in the young and pleasant veterinarian David. Viktor trains Dynamite for an upcoming race. Honza arranges a secret ride for Martina on Dynamite, but the horse gets injured on a jump. Klečka thus bans Victor from racing and Viktor has a fight with Honza because of that. Klečka, bribed by Akedi, replaces Dynamite with a similar horse on the way to the race, getting him the same bandage and causing him a similar wound with a nail. The doubled horse ends up last. The disappointed Vlach decides to sell the unprospective Dynamite. But Martina and the two boys sense deceit. Klečka and Akedi hide Dynamite in a secret underground cellar. The double's condition worsens and Klečka takes him to the vet. But someone damaged the truck's brakes, the coach has an accident and he and the horse die in a fire. Martina tries in vain to persuade her uncle that Dynamite is still alive. She stops loving David when she catches him with Honza's philandering mother. During a night storm, Martina spots a light in Klečka's sealed room. She climbs in through the window and sees that someone has searched it thoroughly. She herself accidentally discovers a scroll of dollars in an old horse collar. Then someone knocks her out. She is helped by Viktor and Honza. Together, they investigate and find out that the culprit is David, and they find the hidden Dynamite. David runs away to a rock from the police who have arrived. When he tries to save the dollars that dropped, he falls down and dies. Viktor, riding Dynamite, wins the Pardubice Steeplechase. Martina becomes close to Honza. The horse breeding and the stud will thankfully continue at Cukenštejn.

Cast

Lucie Vačkářová

studentka Martina

Pavel Hnídek

Honza, Martinin kamarád

Vlastimil Fantura

žokej Viktor

Zdeněk Mahdal

veterinář David Remeš

František Švihlík

ředitel hřebčince Ing. Vlach, Martinin strýc

Miroslav Středa

trenér Václav Klečka, Viktorův otec

Jan Nemejovský

devizový cizinec Akedi

Andrej Hryc

hostinský, Honzův otec

Marta Krampolová

manželka hostinského

Oldřich Štípek

Halíř

Karel Linc

muž z podniku zahraničního obchodu

Alena Fuková

Vendula

Jan Dejmek

nosatý chlápek

Patrik Sigrot

kluk

Josef Slavko

Vladimír Kelbl

vedoucí aukcí

Petr Hanuš

kupující

Jiří Šindler

Aleš Hanzlík

František Michálek

dubl za Štefana Mišovice

Simona Jáklová

dubl za Lucii Vačkářovou

Antonín Ansorge

hudebník

E. Bautský

hudebník

J. Demartini

hudebník

K. Hašek ml.

hudebník

K. Hašek st.

hudebník

B. Litoš

hudebník

Jaroslav Materna

hudebník

Libor Mikule

hudebník

V. Voslář

hudebník

J. Žáček

hudebník

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Oskar Reif, Josef Sandr, Milan Vobořil

Assistant Director

Roman Fara, Jana Paparčíková

Dramaturg

Milan Pávek

Director of Photography

Petr Hojda

Second Unit Photography

Jan Kváča

Production Designer

Boris Moravec

Assistent Production Designer

Olga Rosenfelderová

Set Designer

Jan Hodný, Karel Kočí, František Struska

Costume Designer

Evženie Rážová

Film Editor

Jan Svoboda

Assistant Film Editor

Alena Kravková, Anna Mejtská

Sound Designer

Pavel Jelínek

Assistant Sound Designer

Miroslav Helmich, Otto Chlpek

Production Manager

Jana Koubová

Unit Production Manager

Jaroslav Kučera, Jan Peterka

Unit Production Manager

Petr Čermák, Eduard Zanner, Karel Kuba

Consultant

Ing. Stanislav Waksmundský, CSc., Ing. Jiří Šindler, MVDr. Jaromír Trunkát, MVDr. Jiří Dousek, Petr Hanuš, Jaroslav Tomsa, František Michálek (jezdectví)

Cooperation

Ivana Mrázová (klapka), Michal Fairaizl (fotograf), Státní závodiště Praha, Okresní veterinárinární správa Benešov

Music

Music Composed by

Zbyněk Matějů

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Mario Klemens)

Production info

Original Title

Dynamit

Czech Title

Dynamit

English Title

Dynamite

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

adventure

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1989

Production Year

1988

Production specifications

start of filming 20 September 1988
end of filming 18 December 1988
the first film copy approved 26 May 1989
projection approval 28 July 1989

Premiere

premiere 1 August 1990 /suitable for youths/

Creative Group

4. tvůrčí skupina, Marcela Pittermannová (vedoucí 4. tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

92 min

Original length in metres

2 636 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

Exhibition: 22. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti Ostrov

1990
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czechoslovakia