A Carriage Going to Vienna

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production year

1965

Premiere

11 November 1966

Runtime

79 min

Category

film

Genre

drama, psychological

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Kočár do Vídně

Czech title

Kočár do Vídně

English title

A Carriage Going to Vienna

Working title

Vůz

Summary

One of the roles of Iva Janžurová’s life was as the heroine in Kočár do Vídně (A Carriage Going to Vienna), a psychological drama by director Karel Kachyňa and screenwriter Jana Procházka. The experienced filmmaking duo offered the then 25-year-old a role in 1966 that highlighted her dramatic skills in an intimate framework. Janžurová had appeared in the small part of Bertýna Petrželová in Ať žije republika (Long Live the Republic!) (1965), in which Procházka and Kachyňa also returned to the era of WWII, respectively its aftermath. In the spirit of the Czechoslovak New Wave, both pictures – along with the later Noc nevěsty (Nun’s Night) (1967) – radically revised the depiction of the country’s recent history. Rather than an overhaul of hitherto optics (the evil German, the good partisan), they introduced relativisation centred on a concentration on the individual and his experience of “big” historical events. The intimate nature of the story is underscored by cinematographer Josef Illík’s close camera work… In A Carriage Going to Vienna two fleeing Austrian deserters force young villager Krista to carry them through Znojmo and across the border in her cart. She agrees, spying a chance for revenge: The day before the Germans had as a deterrent hanged her husband and she aims to take the lives of the seriously injured soldier (Luděk Munzar) and his naive young friend (Jaromír Hanzlík). However, the situation plays out completely differently than she had planned: Despite her initial resolve, she cannot overlook the fact that the “culprits” are above all individuals, victims of circumstance just like her. The actions of a group of partisans bring the story to a brutal conclusion… This timeless story exploring the redistribution of guilt and revenge in a period of upheaval naturally soon ended up in the vaults of normalisation-era censors.

Synopsis

It is May 1945. The Germans hang the husband of a young countrywoman for stealing several sacks of cement, as an example to others. Shortly after laying her husband to rest, the woman is held up by two German-speaking soldiers who force her to hitch horses to her farm wagon and drive off with them. One of the soldiers is badly wounded and lies on the hay at the back, while the other, a young Austrian called Hans, asks the woman to take them through Znojmo to the closest Austrian village. The woman sees the situation as an omen and an opportunity to have her revenge. Expressionless and unresponsive to the young man's friendly chat about his hopes for the end of the war, she presses forward. The older soldier is in great pain and tries to kill himself. Hans takes the pistol away from him and the woman uses an unguarded moment to throw it off the wagon, as she already did with their compass and daggers. When Hans learns about this he kicks the woman out of the wagon but she continues to follow them, close as a shadow. The wounded soldier dies and the young soldier buries him in the forest and then falls asleep, exhausted. The woman sneaks up to the wagon unseen to kill the loathed enemy with an axe. She finally starts beating him with her fists instead. The two crazed people end up on the wagon, locked in each other's arms. Asleep, they remain like this when the partisans find them. Despite the woman's pleas, they kill Hans and then rape her. The woman leaves the forest, driving away with the dead body of the young soldier.

Film online

Cast

Iva Janžurová

vdova Krista

Jaromír Hanzlík

Voice by Klaus-Peter Thiele
rakouský vojáček Hans

Luděk Munzar

Voice by Ulrich Thein
raněný voják Günther

Vladimír Ptáček

velký partyzán

Ivo Niederle

partyzán

Jiří Žák

partyzán

Ladislav Jandoš

partyzán

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Milada Mikešová

Screenstory

Jan Procházka

Shooting Script

Karel Kachyňa

Director of Photography

Josef Illík

Second Unit Photography

Emil Sirotek

Production Designer

Leoš Karen

Costume Designer

Ester Krumbachová

Make-Up Artist

Stanislav Petřek

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Sound Designer

Jiří Lenoch

Production Manager

Jaroslav Kučera

Unit Production Manager

Milada Krůtová

Consultant

pplk. František Říčka

Cooperation

Josef Janoušek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jan Novák

Music Performed by

Orchestr Státní filharmonie Brno (Music Conducted by Jiří Pinkas), Milan Šlechta /varhany/

Production info

Original Title

Kočár do Vídně

Czech Title

Kočár do Vídně

English Title

A Carriage Going to Vienna

Working Title

Vůz

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama, psychological

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1966

Production Year

1965

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 23 August 1965
technical Screenplay approved 30 September 1965
start of filming 7 October 1965
end of filming 27 December 1965
projection approval 30 May 1966

Premiere

premiere 20 October 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /½ týdne/ a Alfa /3 týdny od 2. 12./, Praha)
premiere 11 November 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 1 December 1989 /unsuitable for youths/
renewed premiere 1 July 2021 /suitable for all ages without limit/

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1966 a obnovená 1989), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2021)

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

79 min

Original length in metres

2 162 meters

Distribution carrier

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

Aspect ratio

1:1,66, 1:2,35

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, German

Subtitles languages

Czech

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Ceny Trilobit 1967

1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Iva Janžurová

Vítěz

Event: Odměna vedení Československého filmu za nejúspěšnější film roku 1966

1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Karel Kachyňa

Vítěz

Event: Odměna vedení Československého filmu za nejúspěšnější film roku 1966

1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jan Procházka

Vítěz

Festival: 15. mezinárodní filmový festival Karovy Vary

1966
Karlovy Vary / Czechoslovakia