An Ardent Heart
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1962Production year
1962Premiere
8 March 1963Runtime
100 minDirector
Otakar VávraCategory
filmGenre
biographyTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Horoucí srdceCzech title
Horoucí srdceEnglish title
An Ardent HeartSynopsis
During winter 1851, Josef Němec, the chief commissioner of the financial guard, leaves on business for Slovakia. His four children and his wife Božena, who refused to accompany him, come to say goodbye to him to the railway station. The marriage of the Němec family is unhappy. Božena is too emancipated and is not even close to the contemporary ideal of a married woman - a silent and obedient person. Božena Němcová is a writer and her friends are people hostile to the Austrian regime. A time of increasing political pressure develops and the Czech patriots are persecuted. The editor and pre-eminent Czech writer Karel Havlíček Borovský is arrested and deported to Brixen. Some people from Božena's circle become cautious, even cowardly. The burdensome financial situation forces Božena to leave and join her husband with the two younger children in May 1853. But there is again another whirligig of fights and Josef is moreover thrown out of the service due to his wife. Then the news about the serious illness of their son Hynek arrives from Prague; the boy, however, dies soon after his mother's arrival. The desperate Božena stays in Prague and, to comfort herself, begins to write about her childhood memories - the book which is later to become a classic of Czech literature, The Grandmother. The sick Havlíček returns to Prague, too, and dies of tuberculosis in July 1856. People gather in front of his house despite the police ban. The dauntless Božena Němcová arrives to lay a crown of thorns on Havlíček's coffin.
Photos
Cast
Jiřina Švorcová
spisovatelka Božena Němcová
Radovan Lukavský
Josef Němec, manžel Němcové
Vladimír Ráž
MUDr. Vilém Dušan Lambl
Blanka Bohdanová
Karolina Světlá vlastním jménem Johanka Rottová, provdaná Mužáková
Eduard Cupák
profesor Petr Mužák
Jana Gýrová
Žofie Rottová, Johančina sestra
Zdeněk Štěpánek
Jan Evangelista Purkyně
Jiří Holý
Karel Havlíček Borovský
Martin Růžek
MUDr. Václav Staněk
Karel Höger
profesor Jan Ignác Hanuš
Jarmila Smejkalová
Laura, Hanušova žena
Otakar Brousek
páter Václav Štulc
Miloš Nedbal
knihkupec Jan Jaroslav Pospíšil
Jiří Polák
Hynek, syn Němcových
František Hrdina
Karel, syn Němcových
Jitka Oubrechtová
Dora, dcera Němcových
Michal Koblic
Jarouš, syn Němcových
Karol Machata
Janko Kráľ
Luděk Munzar
Václav Čeněk Bendl
Marta Kučírková
Lotti, Staňkova žena
Bohuš Hradil
Němcův kolega
Miloš Willig
tajný policista
Štěpán Bulejko
návladní
Vladimír Hlavatý
venkovan ve vlaku
Aleš Košnar
student
Jiří Kostka
muž s úmrtním oznámením
Milan Jedlička
policista
Gabriela Palotášová
maďarská bytná
Milan Mach
muž u výlohy
Stanislav Kubiš
důstojník
Rudolf Bachlet
stařec-běženec
Josef Bartůněk
vozka
Jaroslav Cmíral
dělník
Lenka Fišerová
služka
Ladislav Gzela
průvodčí
Miloslav Janovský
zdravící muž
Petr Křiváček
student
Jaroslav Kuneš
student
S. Kompánková
služka
Vladimír Navrátil
průvodčí
Miloslav Novák
tajný
Andrej Šilan
četník
Josef Steigl
dělník
Eva Tauchenová
měštka
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Continuity
Screenstory
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Karel Kracík, František Šaněk, Ladislav Winkelhöfer
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Otakar Košťál, Václav Volk, Alena Hejdánková, Ivana Mesteková
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Emanuel Formánek, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Vlastimil Maršálek, Ludmila Venclíková
Unit Production Manager
Jan Bočánek
Consultant
PhDr. Miloslav Novotný, Otakar Matoušek
Cooperation
Jindřich Panáček (fotograf), Helena Michlová
Music
Production info
Original Title
Horoucí srdce
Czech Title
Horoucí srdce
English Title
An Ardent Heart
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
biography
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1962
Production Year
1962
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 20 December 1961
start of filming 16 April 1962
technical Screenplay approved 27 April 1962
end of filming 2 November 1962
projection approval 19 December 1962
Premiere
premiere 8 March 1963 /suitable for youths/ (kino Blaník /3 týdny/, Praha)
premiere 8 March 1963 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
Production
Copyright Holders
Studio
Distribution
Creative Group
Tvůrčí skupina Feix – Brož, Miloš Brož (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Karel Feix (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
100 min
Original length in metres
2 858 meters
Distribution carrier
16mm, 35mm
Aspect ratio
1:1,66, 1:2,35
Colour
black & white
Sound
sound
Sound system/format
mono
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
Czech
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
