Ten-year old Martin is troubled. His bigoted mother forces him to attend religious classes, love God and serve at the church as an acolyte. But everywhere he looks Martin encounters hypocrisy and sees that sinful deeds go unpunished. His father steals planks from the building site of a diary farm cooperative, his brother Eda secretly takes money from the house, and Kovajs, his friend from school, also "sins" knowingly. Nothing happens to any of them. On the other hand, Martin is constantly experiencing troubles. The worst of them is the death of his pet angora rabbits. After this, Martin's belief in God is deeply shaken and he becomes a member of the young socialist pioneers organization without his mother's knowledge. He also wants to join the other children and visit the city for the 1st of May celebrations, but he must first do his duty at the church. The priest drags out the mass and the sermon until his flock can take it no longer and take flight. In the afternoon, the boys make a solemn promise that they will no longer be acolytes. Pišta is the first to break the promise, and Martin is also "bribed" with a new bicycle. Kovajs accuses him of treason and Martin keeps trying to avoid his church work. First he eats an entire tube of Celaskon pills and then he walks into the freezing water of a stream to get ill so as to avoid having to fulfil his mother's wish. Half naked and frozen stiff, he shivers in a small shed.
In the film´s original version Martin, anguished and run-down by the hypocrisy of the adults´ world, throws himself into the swift currents under a weir and drowns. At the funeral, attended by the entire village, all the boys who should have come to serve as acolytes keep their promise and come dressed as young socialist pioneers. After the audience had refused the tragic end at the first test projection, the director shot a new version in which Martin is saved and, soaked and scared, hides inside a shed. The original version has not survived on any film material.
Martin Čermák
Kovajs
Eda, Martinův bratr
Harvan
Pišta
Polák
Hořejší
Marcela Daňková
Anči Čermáková, Martinova matka
Antonín Čermák, Martinův otec
teta Fanda
Ludmila zvaná Luďka, Martinova sestra
poručík Mirek Podlešák, Luďčin ženich
farář Hornof
Kovajsův otec
Martinova učitelka
svazák Kryšták
předseda MNV Šimáček
Horáčková
kostelník
prachatická teta
Mirkova matka
děda Bína
zedník
Kovajsová
hostinský
prodavač losů
vousatý muž s raketou
muž s raketou
muž s raketou
poručík, svědek na svatbě
řidič
babička Kovajsová
lékař
bába Harvanová
bába
železničář
kluk na svatbě
Josef Dvořák, Zeno Dostál, Marta Měřínská
Adolf Nacházel, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)
Olga Mimrová, Miloš Rudolf
Eliška Doubková, Jaroslava Hypiusová
František Schwarz (vrchní osvětlovač)
Antonín Dvořák (Symfonie č. 9 e moll Z Nového světa /Largo/)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer sbor
Singer sbor
Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer sbor
Song Composer Svatopluk Havelka
Writer of Lyrics Josef Brukner
Singer dětský sbor
Singer sbor
Song Composer Radim Drejsl
Writer of Lyrics Miroslav Zachata
Singer sbor
Song Composer Jan Seidel
Song Composer Vladimír Juráš
Writer of Lyrics Josef Miklík
Singer sbor
Song Composer lidová píseň
Králíci ve vysoké trávě
Králíci ve vysoké trávě
Rabbits in the Tall Grass
film
featuretheatrical distribution
drama
Czechoslovakia
1961
1961
technical Screenplay approved 14 January 1961
literary Screenplay approved 15 February 1961
start of filming 4 May 1961
end of filming 13 September 1961
projection approval 8 December 1961
withdrawal from distribution 31 May 1989
preview 16 February 1962 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 23 February 1962 /suitable for youths/ (kina Flora /1 týden/ a Lucerna /2 týdny/, Praha)
premiere 23 February 1962 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Fikar, Ladislav Fikar (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
93 min
2 651 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Exhibition: 2. celostátní přehlídka československých filmů pro děti a mládež Gottwaldov
1967
Zlín / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 4. festival českých a slovenských filmů Košice
1962
Košice / Czechoslovakia
Václav Gajer
Festival: 4. festival českých a slovenských filmů Košice
1962
Košice / Czechoslovakia
Ota Hofman