Beyond that Forest

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production year

1962

Premiere

23 November 1962

Runtime

86 min

Category

film

Genre

drama, war

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Tam za lesem

Czech title

Tam za lesem

English title

Beyond that Forest

Synopsis

Over a calm mountain landscape, the voices of soldiers are heard who, long ago, fought a heavy battle for this piece of land - the Dukla pass. The story rolls back almost twenty years, to September 1944. Former teacher Martin Dzurniak, now an armament supplier of the Czechoslovak army corps, has been fighting in the Soviet Union and one day finds himself with his unit close to the border of his homeland. The Czech and Slovak soldiers have no idea yet that they are going to fight several weeks instead of the expected several days and that many of them is going to die here. Martin manages to arrange a delivery of arms from the Soviet Captain Ivanov and only by miracle survives the German fighter dive-bombing of his jeep. In the beginning of October, the soldiers cross the border but the heavy fighting continues. Martin has many discussions with Sergeant Brzoň and believes that after the war, the world will change for better since the war teaches people solidarity. Brzoň, however, is sceptical. Martin is severely injured during the removal of a mine and ends up in hospital. Here, he meets not only with his wounded co-fighters but also with a Hungarian captive. The negative feelings towards the "enemy" change as soon as the patients learn that the young man's leg must be amputated. Months pass. Martin is limping on a pair of crutches, struggling to go for a walk. All of a sudden, he hears the town bells ringing and realizes that the war is over. He feels lonesome for a while but then is surrounded by a gleeful crowd.

Cast

Július Vašek

poručík Martin Dzurniak

Jiří Vala

četař Ladislav Brzoň

Tibor Kišš

vojín Jurka Kanaloš, cikán

Mária Markovičová

lékařka

Oľga Adamčíková

farářova hospodyně

Jozef Kramár

sovětský kapitán Petr Pavlovič Ivanov

Milan Charvát

řidič Jirka Hochmal

Ján Bzdúch

plukovník

Pavel Molčík

voják Chudoba

Vladimír Kostovič

voják Fichtl

Adolf Král

voják Terenčík

Ján Pelech

maďarský zajatec Imre Juhás

Adam Matejka

polský sedlák

František Papp

ostřelovač

Ivan Palúch

poručík Dohnal

Gita Mikulová

vesničanka

Adriana Čalkovská

zdravotní sestra

Mária Kajdová

slovenské děvče

Gejza Vavrecký

neznámý umírající voják

Alexander Béke

pacient Daubner

Kveta Michalcová

zdravotní sestra

Vladimír Weiser

pátrač Sivák

Jiří Nevařil

dubl za Milana Charváta

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Miloš Forman

Assistant Director

Boca Abrhámová

Screenstory

Pavel Blumenfeld

Screenplay

Pavel Blumenfeld, Vladimír Bor (spolupráce na scénáři), Albert Marenčin (úprava slovenských dialogů)

Director of Photography

Václav Huňka

Second Unit Photography

Zdeněk Prchlík

Camera Operator

Vladimír Zajíc

Production Designer

Miroslav Hrachovec

Assistent Production Designer

Aleš Voleman

Set Designer

Karel Kočí, Bohuslav Varhaník, Jan David (2)

Costume Designer

Zdena Kadrnožková

Assistant Film Editor

Štěpánka Stříbrná

Sound Designer

Václav Škvor, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)

Production Manager

Gustav Rohan

Unit Production Manager

Petr Čapek, Jaromír Lukáš

Unit Production Manager

Ivan Hajný

Consultant

plk. dr. Rudolf Bejkovský, plk. Alois Bíca

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Pauer

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Production info

Original Title

Tam za lesem

Czech Title

Tam za lesem

English Title

Beyond that Forest

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama, war

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1962

Production Year

1962

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 5 July 1961
start of filming 11 March 1962
end of filming 9 July 1962
projection approval 7 September 1962
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1990

Premiere

preview 5 October 1962 (kino Sevastopol /1 týden/, Praha)
premiere 23 November 1962 /suitable for youths/ (kino Paříž /3 týdny/, Praha)
premiere 23 November 1962 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Copyright Holders

Národní filmový archiv

Studio

Barrandov

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Šebor – Bor, Vladimír Bor (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Jiří Šebor (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

86 min

Original length in metres

2 453 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, German, Slovak, Hungarian, Russian

Subtitles languages

Czech

Opening/End credits languages

Czech