A tragicomedy about a 16-year-old young man who encounters the hypocrisy of the adult world during his first job at a small supermarket. This dazzling debut feature film from noted director Miloš Forman also represents a key work of the Czechoslovak New Wave era. In 1963, the then 31-year-old Forman unveiled this loosely structured personal tale, which also serves as a piercing study of the generation gap. Petr starts working behind the till in a small town supermarket; but his real task is to watch for potential shoplifters. At the same time, Petr is also under pressure from his well-meaning, but imperceptive father. Petr doesn’t even feel at ease among his own contemporaries. The authenticity of this timeless film, shot in the town of Kolín, is aided by several non-actor “discoveries” by Forman – namely Ladislav Jakim as Petr and Jan Vostrčil as a band member. Černý Petr (Black Peter) also sees a breakout performance by the then 21-year-old (but already experienced) actor Vladimír Pucholt, who would become a major performer of choice for the New Wave crowd.
The sixteen-year old apprentice Petr begins his training in a self-service shop. The manager of the shop, the only man among all the women, entrusts the young flabbergasted man with his first task - to move around the shop and catch potential thieves. Petr does his best but the manager reprehends him for being too conspicuous in his white cloak. Petr finds behaviour of an elderly man suspicious, and when he confides this to the cashier, the woman sends him to follow the man. The perplexed youth shadows the man throughout the city for the rest of the shift. Petr does not get on well with his parents - his mother sees only a small boy in him and his father takes pleasure in pontificating to him in long monologues. Petr spends Sunday at a bathing pool with the girl, who accepts his inept courting with a degree of affection. The bricklayer's apprentice Čenda disturbs them and, with the support of his friend Zdeněk, tries to start a fight. The dissention ends with the broken elastic of Zdeněk's trunks. At a dance where they all meet together again, Čenda borrows twenty crowns from Petr, gets drunk and falls asleep. In the shop, Petr spots a woman trying to squeeze a sack of sweets into her bag. But, after the failure of his first efforts, he does not do anything. At home, he confides to his father, but the old man again overwhelms him with lots of clichés. The father calms down only upon finding out that nobody knows about the affair. Čenda comes to them to give back the borrowed sum and the father forces him to display to Petr his work-worn palms. The story ends with the father's unfinished preaching.
učeň Petr Vaněk
studentka Pavla Vrbová
Petrův otec
zednický učeň Čenda Semerád
učeň a zpěvák zvaný Sako, Petrův kamarád
zednický učeň Zdeněk, Čendův kamarád
vedoucí samoobsluhy
zednický mistr
Petrova matka
podezřelý zákazník
inventurník
nepoctivá zákaznice
růžolící dívka v modrém
kamarádka Pavly
kamarádka Pavly
Franta Mára, Pavlin bývalý chlapec
Sakův kamarád
děvče na loďce
hlas Franty Máry
Lilian Havlíčková
Přemysl Černý, Vladimír Mácha
Adolf Böhm, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)
Jaromír Komárek (fotograf), Pavla Marková (klapka)
Karel Valdauf (Pod jednou střechou – píseň), Jiří Šlitr
Julius Fučík (Vjezd gladiátorů)
Orchestr Ferdinanda Havlíka, Nonet Závodního klubu Tatra Kolín, Orchestr Karla Vlacha, Bigbeatová skupina divadla Semafor
Ferdinand Havlík (Orchestr Ferdinanda Havlíka), Petr Brožek (Nonet Závodního klubu Tatra Kolín), Karel Vlach (Orchestr Karla Vlacha)
Život je pes, Normálně, Tři panenky, Oliver Twist, Nej nej nej, Marnivá sestřenice, Pod jednou střechou
Jiří Šlitr (Život je pes), Miloslav Ducháč (Normálně), Vlastimil Hála (Tři panenky), Karel Mareš (Oliver Twist), Zdeněk Marat (Nej nej nej), Jiří Šlitr (Marnivá sestřenice), Karel Valdauf (Pod jednou střechou)
Jiří Suchý (Život je pes), Vladimír Dvořák (herec) (Normálně), Vratislav Blažek (Tři panenky), Rostislav Černý (Oliver Twist), Miroslav Zikán (Nej nej nej), Jindřich Zpěvák (Nej nej nej), Jiří Suchý (Marnivá sestřenice), Ladislav Jacura (Pod jednou střechou)
Pavel Sedláček (Život je pes), Markéta Petránková (Normálně), Markéta Petránková (Tři panenky), Markéta Petránková (Oliver Twist), Markéta Petránková (Nej nej nej), B. Dědek (Nej nej nej), Ladislav Jakim (Marnivá sestřenice), Pavla Martínková (Marnivá sestřenice), Eva Ulihrachová (Pod jednou střechou)
Černý Petr
Black Peter
film
feature
comedy
Czechoslovakia
1963
1963
17 April 1964
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1964, obnovené 1982 a 1987), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2017)
Šebor – Bor, Vladimír Bor, Jiří Šebor
long
89 min
Czech
Event: Cena Československé federace filmových klubů
1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Miloš Forman
Event: Anketa Svazu filmového a televizního tisku ve Velké Británii
1966
Londýn / Great Britain
Festival: 3. mezinárodní filmový festival Lisabon
1966
Lisabon / Portugal
Event: Anketa československých filmových distributorů
1965
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Exhibition: 11. západoněmecké dny krátkého filmu Oberhausen
1965
Oberhausen / Federal Republic of Germany
Event: Umělecká soutěž k 20. výročí osvobození Československa
1965
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Miloš Forman
Festival: 17. mezinárodní filmový festival Locarno
1964
Locarno / Switzerland
Festival: 17. mezinárodní filmový festival Locarno
1964
Locarno / Switzerland
Festival: 25. mezinárodní filmový festival Benátky
1964
Benátky / Italy
Event: Čestná uznání Československého filmu a Svazu československých divadelních a filmových umělců z produkce roku 1963
1964
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Event: Cena československé filmové kritiky za rok 1963
1964
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 25. mezinárodní filmový festival Benátky
1964
Benátky / Italy