The End of a Priest

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1968

Production year

1968

Premiere

10 January 1969

Runtime

95 min

Director

Evald Schorm

Category

film

Genre

allegory, tragicomedy

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Farářův konec

Czech title

Farářův konec

English title

The End of a Priest

Summary

Besides Zločin v šantánu (Crime in the Nightclub), in 1968 the writer Josef Škvorecký also contributed to the bitter comedy Farářův konec (The End of a Priest) as the author of the original idea and screenwriter. Together with the director Evald Schorm, he created a story whose protagonist is an inept sexton, who decides to leave his job in a big church in the city. He sets off for a new life in a remote mountain village, where by coincidence people are desperately looking for a priest to administer the last rites to someone. At first, the sexton tries in vain not to be considered part of a “miracle,” but in the end he reconciles himself to the role of new spiritual pastor – and because he performs the job judiciously with an understanding of human weakness, the quirky villagers soon take him to their hearts. The local schoolmaster, who is propagating an atheist education in the spirt of communist ideas, is strongly averse to this. Until now, he had been the village community’s celebrity. The self-assuredness of “healthy reason,” which the manipulative and careerist schoolmaster crows about, stands against the faith of a simple man who has humbly taken a coveted task upon himself. The teacher tries to discredit this false priest of obvious moral authority. Ultimately, he denounces him and causes a tragic finale… In The End of a Priest, Evald Schorm used a “theatre” framework – just like he did in his subsequent film Den sedmý – osmá noc (The Seventh Day – the Eighth Night, 1969). Whereas in The End of a Priest, a group of fairground comedians presents the plot of a modern broadside ballad, it is again possible to see it as a Passion Play that is a parable about the Soviet occupation. In both instances, it concerns a variation on the fate of Jesus. Škvorecký’s idea, however, is based on a newspaper article from that time about a man who pretended to be a priest somewhere in the Eagle Mountains. The meaningful setting of the story is a Czech village in the 1950s which becomes an allegory for the totalitarian system. Vlastimil Brodský and Jan Libíček excel in the lead roles in Schorm’s masterpiece. Josef Škvorecký himself played the small role of a professor appearing on television.

Synopsis

The sexton of a large church in the city causes a scandal at a diplomatic wedding by clumsiest. In the sacristy, where he has fled, he is discovered by an elderly couple, their adolescent grand-daughter and her illegitimate child. The family force the sexton to baptize their sickly newborn, and the child revives with loud crying. On their advice, the sexton moves to a small village in the mountains. The village needs a spiritual guide, especially now that the bed-ridden granny, cleared away to a farm loft, has decided to die of boredom and wants to have the last rites. The sexton's arrival is deemed a miracle and the man becomes a parish priest at the local church despite his own resistance to the idea. The locals are finally able to give their confessions and grow very fond of the sympathetic man. The village schoolmaster, previously the spiritual figure of the village, is jealous of the "priest" and makes every effort to get rid of him. He thinks up a trap, luring Majka, the local girl of easy virtue, to a haystack outside the village together with the "priest". The angry locals fail to catch the "priest", who escapes the scene on time. The local beggar dies in the haystack as it accidentally catches fire. Two bishops pay a visit to the village. They soon expose the sexton's true identity. The schoolmaster, who informed on the sexton to the police, goes to the church to warn him that he will be arrested. The sexton tries to escape, swinging hand over hand along a beam but cannot keep his balance. He hits the floor and dies amid a crowd of onlookers.

Film online

Cast

Vlastimil Brodský

kostelník Albert

Josefa Pechlátová

babička v posteli

Martin Růžek

Bílý biskup

Gueye Cheick

Černý biskup

Václav Kotva

Jan Páně

Antonín Pražák

Voice by Jaroslav Moučka
hasič

Pavel Bošek

principál

Ivan Kraus

montér

Eva Řepíková

dívka

Jana Synková

francouzská dívka

Andrea Čunderlíková

mladá maminka Božka

Marie Rybníčková

pozorovatelka

Jiří Hartman

pozorovatel

Pavel Landovský

pozorovatel

Petr Kopřiva

pozorovatel

Kovařík

pozorovatel

Kučírek

pozorovatel

Jiřina Jandová

svatebčanka

Karel Semerád

svatebčan

Václav Vodák

svatebčan

J. Havlíková

svatebčanka

Čelakovský

svatebčan

Kropáček

svatebčan

Zuzana Rumlová

svatebčanka

Karel Hovorka

cirkusák

Paul Leclér

ceremoniář

Josef Škvorecký

profesor v televizi

Marie Steinerová

Oktavián v Růžovém kavalírovi

Alena Nováková

Kněžna v Růžovém kavalírovi

Šulc

fízl

Petr Čunderlík

Franta

Jiří Roll

Voice by Otto Šimánek
farář

Jiří Růžička

žák v kostkované košili

Crew and creators

Director

Evald Schorm

Second Unit Director

Josef Krameš

Assistant Director

Vít Hrubín

Director of Photography

Jaromír Šofr

Second Unit Photography

Petr Čech

Camera Operator

Bohumil Paris

Production Designer

Jindřich Goetz

Assistent Production Designer

Karel Vacek

Art Director

Jan Schmid

Set Designer

Jiří Cvrček, Jaromír Dědek, Oldřich Halaza

Costume Designer

Svatava Sophová

Assistant Film Editor

Helena Lehovcová, Milada Malínská

Sound Designer

František Fabián

Production Manager

Věra Kadlecová

Unit Production Manager

Jaromír Kallista, Václav Havlík

Unit Production Manager

Vladimír Tišer

Consultant

prof. Rudolf Mertlík (latinské dialogy)

Cooperation

Olga Bourková (klapka), Jitka Bylinská (fotografka)

Music

Music Composed by

Jan Klusák

Selected Music

Richard Strauss (opera Růžový kavalír), Bedřich Smetana (opera Libuše), Bedřich Smetana (opera Prodaná nevěsta /Proč bychom se netěšili/)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Kühnův smíšený sbor

Choreographer

Josef Koníček

Songs

Třináct černých loupežníků

Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer Marie LandováEva Řepíková

Hájku, háječku

Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer sbor

Blíž k tobě, Bože můj

Song Composer Lowell Mason
Writer of Lyrics Václav Renč
Singer sbor

Svatý Václave

Singer Václav Kotvadětský sbor

Hospodin je můj pastýř /Biblické písně/

Song Composer Antonín Dvořák
Writer of Lyrics Žalm 23
Singer Vladimír Jedenáctík

Hajá, hajá, má panenka malá

Song Composer Karel Vacek
Writer of Lyrics Karel Vacek
Singer sbor

Stromečky okolo Břežánky

Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer Jan Libíčeksbor

Proč ptáci zpívají

Song Composer Jaromír Klempíř
Writer of Lyrics Jiří Štaidl
Singer Karel Gott

Včera jsem tě čekala

Song Composer Václav Bláha
Writer of Lyrics Václav Bláha
Singer sbor

That’s All You Gotta Do

Song Composer Jerry Reed
Writer of Lyrics Jerry Reed
Singer Yvonne Přenosilová

Proč bychom se netěšili

Song Composer Bedřich Smetana

Production info

Original Title

Farářův konec

Czech Title

Farářův konec

English Title

The End of a Priest

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

allegory, tragicomedy

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1968

Production Year

1968

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 15 February 1967
start of filming 16 April 1968
technical Screenplay approved 5 June 1968
end of filming 21 June 1968
the first film copy approved 4 November 1968
projection approval 14 November 1968

Premiere

premiere 10 January 1969 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 3 April 1969 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Letka /6 týdnů/, Praha)
renewed premiere 1 November 1990 /recommended for 12 and over/

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1969 a obnovená 1990)

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Novotný – Kubala, Bedřich Kubala (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Ladislav Novotný (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

95 min

Original length in metres

2 691 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37, 1:1,19

Colour

colour, black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, Latin

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Exhibition: Přehlídka českých a slovenských filmů 69 Sorrento

1969
Sorrento / Italy
Evald Schorm

Vítěz

Event: Setkání s krátkým filmem v Ligně

1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Evald Schorm