The Girl on the Broom

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1971

Production year

1971

Premiere

8 September 1972

Runtime

76 min

Category

film

Genre

comedy, fairytale

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Dívka na koštěti

Czech title

Dívka na koštěti

English title

The Girl on the Broom

Working title

Saxana

Summary

In 1971, the workshop of director Václav Vorlíček and the screenwriter Miloš Macourek produced one of the most successful titles of their common filmography. This surreal comedy about a witching student kept in after school who accidentally ends up in the world of ordinary people is used by Macourek as a popular means of contrasting an unusual element with our “normal” world. Thanks to the charming, albeit somewhat confused Saxana, the subgenre of a high-school comedy in Dívka na koštěti (The Girl on the Broom) transforms into a funny critique of everyday, real life. The titular heroine has to become clear in her mind about such basic concepts as good and evil, hatred and love. Her stay in the world of humans, where she meets a nice boy called Honza and the greedy class creep Miky Rousek, teaches the young witch incomparably more than the original 300 years detention that she had been given in her educational institution at home. Miky and his cronies use the naïve witch for their own benefit, and it takes Saxana a while before she realises that they have tricked her… In The Girl on the Broom, a modern fairy tale, which Macourek also returned to in, among other things, the TV series Arabela, becomes the basis for an intelligent, imaginative, and funny spectacle that has acquired cult status among several generations of viewers. The then 22-year-old singer Petra Černočka also contributes to the success of the film. She plays Saxana with charm, grace, and love. The popular player of nice, sensitive young men, Jan Hrušínský appears as Honza in the film. Vorlíček, however, also exhibited an extraordinary talent for casting in the supporting roles (Vladimír Menšík in the part of a vampire janitor, Jan Kraus as the malevolent Miky, Helena Růžičková as a crazy patient in a lunatic asylum, etc.). In 2011, Václav Vorlíček made a loose sequel to the film, called Saxána a Lexikon kouzel (The Little Witch on a Broomstick). In this film, however, the original characters only appear fleetingly and attention focuses on the daughter of the first heroine – little Saxana.

Synopsis

The young witch Saxana is not doing well in school and must remain in detention for three hundred years. In the class, the old caretaker stays with Saxana and tells her about his adventures from the world of humans. He even shows the girl a book with the magic formula that could take her there. After seeing the formula, Saxana reads the magic words out loud, changes into an owl and vanishes without trace. Panic breaks out at the school and the caretaker has to go after Saxana. If she fails to return within forty-six hours, she will be forced to remain in the world of people. The owl-Saxana shows up at the zoo and the director Bláha brings her home as a birthday gift for his son Honza. Honza, who is completely ignorant of the witch world, accidentally says the magic words and Saxana turns into a girl. The next day, Honza takes her to school with him. Saxana likes the human world and decides to stay. But in order to do this she needs a "grandmother's ear". Three boys - the worst pupils in the class - promise to fetch the ear for her. As a reward, they ask for various bits of magic that cause trouble to the teachers crowd, and to Honza and his family. But the little louts refuse to keep their promise, and Saxana has to keep on looking. Only a few moments before her time is up, she finds out that grandmother's ear is a popular name for the herb lilac sage, a concoction of which happens to be in a thermos bottle in the headmaster's office. Despite further traps prepared by the naughty threesome, she manages to drink the concoction and some is even left for the caretaker, who is apparently very taken with the high-spirited lady caretaker at the school for humans.

Cast

Petra Černocká

čarodějnice Saxana zvaná Kudláčková

Jan Hrušínský

žák Honza Bláha

Jan Kraus

žák Miky Rousek

Vlastimil Zavřel

žák Bohouš Adámek

Michal Hejný

žák Čenda Bujnoch

Jaromír Spal

ředitel zoo Jindřich Bláha, Honzův otec

Jana Drbohlavová

učitelka Marie Pešková

Vlastimil Hašek

sochař Karel, manžel Peškové

Vladimír Menšík

upír, školník v čarodějnické škole

Zdeněk Dítě

ředitel školy

Míla Myslíková

Anna Bláhová, Honzova matka

Meda Valentová

Honzova babička

Josef Bláha

Voice by Dalimil Klapka /v exteriérové scéně/
ředitel čarodějnické školy

Jan Libíček

psychiatr MUDr. K. Boublík

Jaroslava Obermaierová

zdravotní sestra na psychiatrii

Jiří Lír

učitel botaniky

Ludmila Píchová

učitelka v čarodějnické škole

Stella Zázvorková

školnice Vondráčková

Helena Růžičková

pacientka na psychiatrii

Milan Neděla

hostinský

Karel Houska

školní inspektor

Lubomír Kostelka

zřízenec v zoo Bauer

Josef Kolb

malý zřízenec na psychiatrii

Milan Kindl

Vilda, velký zřízenec na psychiatrii

Josefa Pechlátová

babka na farmě

Roman Skamene

spolužák

Juraj Štúr

spolužák

Pavel Spálený

Voice by Lubor Tokoš
dopravní policista

Marie Štrampachová

Voice by Eva Svobodová
Rouskova teta

Svatopluk Skládal

učitel Keprle

Jiří Krytinář

učitel zmenšování v čarodějnické škole

Miloslav Balcar

učitel v čarodějnické škole

Jana Boušková

žákyně čarodějnické školy

Renée Nachtigallová

žákyně čarodějnické školy

Milena Steinmasslová

žákyně čarodějnické školy

Marie Bílá

příšera v čarodějnické škole

Karel Vítek

příšera v čarodějnické škole

Zdeněk Novák

muž pod autem

Vít Pešina

zřízenec

Johana Saudková

zdravotní sestra

Robert Vrchota

Voice by Jan Kraus
žák Miky Rousek v podobě stěhováka

Ladislav Mrnka

Voice by Vlastimil Zavřel
žák Bohouš Adámek v podobě stěhováka

Karel Pavlík

Voice by Michal Hejný
žák Čenda Bujnoch v podobě stěhováka

Vladimír Foukal

Voice by Jan Kraus
žák Miky Rousek v podobě biskupa

Jiří Vašků

Voice by Vlastimil Zavřel
žák Bohouš Adámek v podobě biskupa

Karel Augusta

Voice by Michal Hejný
žák Čenda Bujnoch v podobě biskupa

Otto Lackovič

Voice by Jan Kraus
žák Miky Rousek v podobě Inda

Miloš Vavruška

Voice by Vlastimil Zavřel
žák Bohouš Adámek v podobě Inda

Lubor Tokoš

Voice by Michal Hejný
žák Čenda Bujnoch v podobě Inda

Jarmila Čermáková

loutkoherečka

Josef Jakoubek

loutkoherec

Karel Nikolau

loutkoherec

Blanka Vrbecká

loutkoherečka

Dubbing

Miloš Vavruška

hlas druhého dopravního policisty

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Jaroslav Pour

Assistant Director

Robert Vacík

Continuity

Olga Bourková

Shooting Script

Václav Vorlíček

Director of Photography

Vladimír Novotný

Production Designer

Oldřich Bosák

Assistent Production Designer

Bohumil Nový, Jiří Matolín

Art Director

Theodor Pištěk ml. (masky)

Set Designer

Eva Slívová, Jaroslav Chytrý, Dana Smržová

Costume Designer

Theodor Pištěk ml.

Film Editor

Miroslav Hájek

Assistant Film Editor

Jitka Šulcová

Sound Designer

Jiří Hora

Titles Designed by

Adolf Born

Production Manager

Miloš Stejskal

Unit Production Manager

Miroslav Dousek, Gabriela Bašeová, Jaroslav Kučera

Unit Production Manager

Antonín Suchánek

Cooperation

Jarmila Kovtanová (klapka), Zdeněk Dukát (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Angelo Michajlov

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Orchestr Karla Vlacha (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

Saxana

Song Composer Angelo Michajlov
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Petra Černocká

Světská sláva – polní tráva

Song Composer Angelo Michajlov
Writer of Lyrics Eduard Krečmar
Singer Václav Neckář

To už se nevrátí

Song Composer Angelo Michajlov
Writer of Lyrics Eduard Krečmar
Singer Helena Vondráčková

Production info

Original Title

Dívka na koštěti

Czech Title

Dívka na koštěti

English Title

The Girl on the Broom

Working Title

Saxana

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

comedy, fairytale

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1971

Production Year

1971

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 15 February 1971
technical Screenplay approved 20 April 1971
start of filming 26 May 1971
end of filming 26 August 1971
projection approval 5 November 1971
the first film copy approved 6 December 1971

Premiere

festival premiere 15 June 1972 (23. filmový festival pracujících – červen ´72)
premiere 7 September 1972 /suitable for youths/ (kina Sevastopol a Flora, Praha)
premiere 8 September 1972 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 18 November 2021 /suitable for all ages without limit/

Studio

Barrandov

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1972), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2021)

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Výrobní skupina Ericha Švabíka, Erich Švabík (vedoucí výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

76 min

Original length in metres

2 152 meters

Distribution carrier

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

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Múzy pražských diváků

1974
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Václav Vorlíček

Vítěz

Festival: 6. mezinárodní festival fantastických filmů a hororů Sitges

1973
Sitges / Spain

Vítěz

Festival: 6. mezinárodní festival fantastických filmů a hororů Sitges

1973
Sitges / Spain
Oldřich Bosák

Vítěz

Festival: 23. filmový festival pracujících – červen ´72

1972
43 měst / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Festival: 10. filmový festival mladých Trutnov

1972
Trutnov / Czechoslovakia

Vítěz

Festival: 10. mezinárodní festival vědeckofantastických filmů Terst

1972
Terst / Italy