The Strike
Typology
featureCzech title
SirénaRuntime
80Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1947Production year
1947Premiere
11.04.1947Language version
CzechDirector
Karel SteklýSummary
This social drama from director Karel Steklý represents a rare example from the period of its making of a Czechoslovak film generating waves on the international scene. The motion picture took the Grand International Award at the 1947 Venice Film Festival. The story is inspired by two chapters of an eponymous novel by Marie Majerová (first published in 1935), and is set in the 19th century industrial town of Kladno. Focusing on the working class Hudec family, Siréna (The Strike) chronicles a strike by miners protesting low pay. But the defiant mine owner turns the gendarmerie against the rebels. When metal workers join their mining colleagues, the boss orders a brutal suppression of the strike. Daughter Emča Hudcová, who is accidentally shot during the plundering of the boss’s villa, serves as a symbol of the struggles of the working classes against the exploitations of capitalism.
Synopsis
The shriek of a siren sets the rhythm of life in Kladno. The family of smelter Hudec lives very much like the other workers' families. The salaries are low and father Hudec leaves part of the money in the local pub. The family is held together by the firm hand of the mother, Mrs Hudcová, who watches over her son Rudolf and daughters Růžena and Emča. The gloomy situation forces the miners to act and they call a strike. An impulse for further resistance comes with the suicide of Černý, who in his farewell letter accuses the mine's general manager Bacher of causing his suicide. The indignant miners want to speak with Bacher but he drives them away with gendarmes whom he pays from the miners' money, set aside to support the ailing. This fact enrages the miners even further and Hudec, who had stopped drinking, appeals to the smelters to express their solidarity with the miners. He is instantly fired for this. As the strike continues, the hunger and misery of the workers' families is growing stronger and tension is rising. In the end, a small incident is enough to bring the people to Bacher's villa where, in hatred, they start breaking everything. The army, which has been sent for, opens fire and breaks up the workers, accidentally fatally wounding Emča Hudcová. The workers' protest is stifled and Hudec finds himself imprisoned together with his son in the massive arrests that follow. Růžena leaves for America with the man she loves. The broken-hearted mother stays alone but she pulls herself together to give her daughter a proper farewell. On her return she answers to the screaming siren: Go ahead and roar, you won't silence us!
Photos
Cast
Ladislav Boháč
tavič Hudec
Marie Vášová
Hudcová
Oleg Reif
Rudolf, syn Hudcových
Naděžda Mauerová
Růžena, starší dcera Hudcových
Pavla Suchá
Emča, dcera Hudcových
Josef Bek
horník Karel Hampl, Růženin milý
Bedřich Karen
generální ředitel dolů Bacher
Bohumil Machník
ředitel dolu Roth
Lída Matoušková
Kazdová
Anna Houdková
Zeithamelová
Jaroslav Zrotal
tavič Hroník
Věra Kalendová
svačinářka Černá
Josef Dekoj
Černý
Miloš Nedbal
důlní Bílek
Josef Benátský
starosta Hrabě
Stanislav Neumann
strážník Trojan
Bedřich Kubala
Bosňák
Jaroslav Mareš
Klen
Josef Hořánek
měšťan
Karel Svoboda
kliďas
Marie Štichová
Loučilová
Růžena Gottliebová
Zimová
Jaroslav Kapr
Sršeň
Věra Warenová
Bacherová
Felix le Breux
ředitel hutí Pásek
Stanislav Vyskočil
předák z Prahy
Vladimír Hlavatý
redaktor z Prahy
Karel Jelínek
četník
Leopold Horešovský
četník
Viktor Očásek
lokaj
Jarka Pižla
číšník
Kamil Blahovec
Plaček
Karel Fořt
lokaj
Frank Rose-Růžička
havíř
Antonín Jirsa
host v krčmě
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Based on
Marie Majerová (Siréna – román)
Screenplay
Camera
Second Unit Photography
Jaroslav Kníže
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Josef Holomý, Karel Oliva
Consultant
Jaroslav Váchal (vojenský poradce), vrchní inspektor Jar. Špatenka (dráhy), Zdeněk Vašata (církevní hudba), V. Hadinec (šerm)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
Music Conducted by
Otakar Pařík (FISYO)
Songs
Já jsem krev živých
Singer
ženský sbor (Já jsem krev živých)
Production info
Original Title
Siréna
English Title
The Strike
Copyright
1947
Production Year
1947
Premiere
11.04.1947
Production
Copyright Holders
Distribution
Creative Group
Technical info
Versions
Czech
Awards
Vítěz
Event: Aprobační komise pro schvalování českých filmů
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jaroslav Tuzar
Vítěz
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1947 v oboru tisku, rozhlasu a filmu
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Marie Vášová
Vítěz
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1947 v oboru tisku, rozhlasu a filmu
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Marie Majerová
Vítěz
Event: Aprobační komise pro schvalování českých filmů
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
E. F. Burian
Vítěz
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1947 v oboru tisku, rozhlasu a filmu
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
E. F. Burian
Vítěz
Festival: 8. mezinárodní filmový festival Benátky
1947
Benátky / Italy
Vítěz
Event: Aprobační komise pro schvalování českých filmů
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Karel Steklý
Vítěz
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1947 v oboru tisku, rozhlasu a filmu
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jaroslav Tuzar
Vítěz
Festival: 8. mezinárodní filmový festival Benátky
1947
Benátky / Italy
Vítěz
Event: Aprobační komise pro schvalování českých filmů
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Štěpán Kopecký
Vítěz
Event: Aprobační komise pro schvalování českých filmů
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Karel Steklý
Vítěz
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1947 v oboru tisku, rozhlasu a filmu
1947
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Karel Steklý