The Death of Mr Baltazar

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production year

1964

Runtime

23 min

Category

povídka

Genre

short-story, tragicomedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionshort

Original title

Smrt pana Baltazara

Czech title

Smrt pana Baltazara

English title

The Death of Mr Baltazar

Working title

Velká cena

Summary

Jiří Menzel's short film captures the atmosphere of authentic motorcycle races, together with portraits of several spectators. Some of them are more fascinated by accidents than the races themselves; one of the accidents ends in the death of a competitor. Menzel combines morbid motifs (as in his later adaptations of Hrabal's Closely Watched Trains from 1966 and Skylarks on the String from the border year of 1969) with poetic scenes, the original music of Jiří Šust and Bedřich Nikodém's composition Poustevník. Menzel himself played a cyclist in one of these scenes. Filming took place in Jevany and at the Brno Grand Prix.

Synopsis

A man repairs his old Walter car by the side of road, devotedly assisted by his wife. She hands him the instruments in the manner of theatre nurses during a surgery, at the same time trying to tell the models of passing motorcycles by the sound of the motors. Anytime she gets one wrong, the husband kindly corrects her. Nearby, their fellow-traveller, an old uncle, delivers a monologue in which he recalls his experiences from his youth. The veteran automobile sets off on the road again. Although even a man on a bicycle can overtake them, the man praises the car fulsomely. The family, in fact, is travelling to the motorcycle Grand Cup. The race track is already full of hundreds of viewers who have been waiting to occupy the best spots since the night. The husband indulges in conversation with an invalid on a wheelchair, enchanting him with his memories of the famous racers and especially their often mortal crashes. The wife supports Mr Šťastný, who always wins despite crashes and wounds. The race starts. The uncle tries to clean his dirty coat with gasoline so ineptly that the coat burns in the grass. The racer Baltazar tragically crashes right in front of the family and dies. The races are over and the viewers disperse.

Cast

Ferdinand Krůta

otec František

Alois Vachek

invalida

Jan Pech

strýc

Bohumil Hrabal

divák závodů

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Květa Ondráková

Assistant Director

Zdenka Petřková

Based on

Bohumil Hrabal (Smrt pana Baltisbergra – povídka ze sbírky Perlička na dně)

Shooting Script

Jiří Menzel

Director of Photography

Jaroslav Kučera

Second Unit Photography

Miroslav Ondříček

Camera Operator

Jiří Štíbr, Vladimír Zajíc

Production Designer

Oldřich Bosák

Assistent Production Designer

Bohumil Nový

Set Designer

František Zajíček, Jan Vrňata, Viktor Fixl

Costume Designer

Marta Bártová

Make-Up Artist

František Novotný

Assistant Film Editor

Eva Horázná, Jitka Šulcová

Sound Designer

Blažej Bernard

Assistant Sound Designer

Václav Kliegel

Production Manager

František Sandr

Unit Production Manager

Ludmila Tikovská, Luděk Marold, Věra Winkelhöferová

Unit Production Manager

Karel Kovář

Cooperation

Růžena Nováková (klapka)

Music

Music Composed by

Jiří Šust

Selected Music

Bedřich Nikodem (Poustevník)

Production info

Original Title

Smrt pana Baltazara

Czech Title

Smrt pana Baltazara

English Title

The Death of Mr Baltazar

Working Title

Velká cena

Category

povídka

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

short-story, tragicomedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1965

Production Year

1964

Technical info

Duration typology

short film

Duration in minutes

23 min

Original length in metres

638 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, BRD

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour, black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech