This 1966 psychological drama affirmed director Evald Schorm’s position as one of the most individual filmmakers of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Jan Kačer gives a brilliant performance as the film’s tragic protagonist. Architect Jan Šebek seems to have everything yet he’s still tormented by existential dilemmas that drive him to a suicide attempt. Unfortunately, a subsequent sojourn in a mental hospital does not help Jan deal with his feelings of alienation and insecurity, or his inability to communicate… Unlike other stories about alienated intellectuals, made around the same time by such filmmakers as Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman, Návrat ztraceného syna (The Return of the Prodigal Son) depicts a “morally diseased man”, whose story reflects Schorm’s own scepticism towards the hopeful mood in society, culminating in the period of liberalisation known as the Prague Spring.
Engineer Jan Šebek is undergoing treatment in a mental home after his unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. His therapist, via discussions both with the patient and with people who know him, tries to find out what made the young and seemingly satisfied man decide to end his own life. Jan's pretty wife Jana claims not to know about anything but she is conducting an affair with a family friend, Jiří, almost publicly and with the blessing of her parents. At work, Jan is considered to be a bit weird but a nice person. The Šebeks live with Jana's parents and Jan cannot stand his affected and hypocritical mother-in-law and her fake kindness. In the hospital, he makes friends with fellow patient Zdeněk and successfully resists the wooing of the doctor's wife. He even tries to run away and after some time, when the doctors fail to find the cause of his depression, is released on probation. The relationship with Jana seems to be just fine. But despite that, the behaviour of Jana's parents and some colleagues at work irritates the mentally unstable Jan to such an extent that he breaks down again and returns to the asylum. The tragic death of Zdeněk, who could not bear the pestering of another patient, forces Jan to attempt another unsuccessful escape - but the doctor still lets him go home with his wife upon obligation. On the way home, the couple drops by in a village. A village woman mistakenly confuses Jan for a wanted murderer and the fanatic crowd pursuing him makes the man break down completely.
inženýr Jan Šebek
Jana, Šebkova manželka
Jiří, přítel Šebkových
lékař
Olga, manželka lékaře
Skaličková, Janina matka
Skalička, Janin otec
zdravotní sestra
Voice by Josef Abrhám
tanečník Zdeněk, pacient psychiatrické léčebny
mladá pacientka
dcerka Šebkových
uklízečka
farář
ošetřovatel
ředitel projektového ústavu
náměstek
cizí muž
pacient
artista s maringotkou
artistova žena
cirkusák
polykač ohně
starší muž
malíř
tančící mladík
akrobat na kole
artista-klaun
artista s velbloudem
artistka s medvědem
žonglér
parterní akrobaté
artistka-kaučuk
artisté s poníky
artista s hadem
hlas vesnické ženy
Zdeňka Černá, Ladislav Dražan
Karel Ješátko (fotograf)
FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)
Song Composer lidová píseň
Song Composer lidová píseňMiloš Vacek /úprava/
Návrat ztraceného syna
Návrat ztraceného syna
The Return of the Prodigal Son
film
featuretheatrical distribution
drama, psychological
Czechoslovakia
1966
1966
literary Screenplay approved 19 November 1965
technical Screenplay approved 16 May 1966
start of filming 31 May 1966
end of filming 30 August 1966
projection approval 25 November 1966
withdrawal from distribution 6 April 1973
withdrawal from distribution 1 July 1993
premiere 27 January 1967 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Praha /½ týdne a 3½ týdne od 26. 5./, Praha)
premiere 10 March 1967 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 1 September 1990 /unsuitable for youths/
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1967 a obnovená 1990)
Tvůrčí skupina Novotný – Kubala, Bedřich Kubala (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Ladislav Novotný (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
99 min
2 809 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Festival: 5. filmový festival mladých Trutnov
1967
Trutnov / Czechoslovakia
Jan Kačer
Festival: 5. filmový festival mladých Trutnov
1967
Trutnov / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 20. mezinárodní filmový festival Locarno
1967
Locarno / Switzerland