How to Drown Dr Mráček or The End of Water Sprites in Bohemia
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1974Production year
1974Premiere
14 March 1975Runtime
100 minDirector
Václav VorlíčekCategory
filmGenre
fantastic, comedyTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Jak utopit dr. Mráčka aneb Konec vodníků v ČecháchCzech title
Jak utopit dr. Mráčka aneb Konec vodníků v ČecháchEnglish title
How to Drown Dr Mráček or The End of Water Sprites in BohemiaWorking title
Jak utopit dr. MráčkaSummary
One of the most popular titles in Václav Vorlíček’s extensive filmography remains Jak utopit dr. Mráčka aneb Konec vodníků v Čechách (How to Drown Dr Mráček or The End of Water Sprites in Bohemia), a 1974 fantasy comedy. As well as the director’s favourite collaborator Miloš Macourek, the author of the book on which it was based, Petr Markov also contributed to the screenplay. In the contemporary fairy tale the titular hero – the young lawyer Jindřich Mráček (Jaromír Hanzlík) – attempts conscientiously to find new, more dignified and healthy accommodation for a family living in a damp house on Prague’s Kampa. He has no idea that they are water sprites, who are not at all enthused by the idea of a dry prefab apartment building. The head of the family Mr. Wasserman (Miloš Kopecký) decides to get rid of the persistent official. This is complicated, however, by the romance growing between Jindřich and his niece Jana (Libuše Šafránková). An interesting aspect of the colourful story is the fact that there are ethnic and social differences within the water sprite community: Wasserman, his wife Matylda (Míla Myslíková) and their spoiled daughter Polly are “bourgeois” nobs but rely on the assistance of their poor, hard-working relatives the Vodičkovýs. Wasserman has further problems with a negative assessment of the standards of the moribund domestic water sprite community, even earning reprimands at a conference in Hamburg… After Dívka na koštěti (The Girl on the Broom, 1971) it was another genre picture in which the Vorlíček-Macourek double-act looked at a strongly idealised present through fairy tale creatures. Water sprites replace the staff at a school of wizardry but this time the narrative is based on the adversity that divides a “mixed” couple: a human young man and a “different” girl. Again the loss of magical powers plays a role. In order to remain in the human world, the young witch Saxana needed a draught of sage. The water sprite Jana must choose between two tried and tested options: sex or the ingestion or transfusion of (any non-sprite) blood. Despite the playful nature of this motif (which is also applied to West German youths meant to revive the moribund Czech water sprite population), it is typical of 1970s cinematography: “disenchantment” is after all also a curious form of normalisation.
Synopsis
In the Prague quarter Kampa the main Czech water sprite Wasserman lives with his wife Matylda and their spoiled daughter Polly. Three brothers called Vodička take care of their wealth by hard work – Bertík, the manager of boat livery, Karel, the life guard, and Alois, the diver with his daughter Jana. Matylda is not at all thankful, although the Vodičkas are her own brothers. The devoted Alois gets for his work at the Rescue Service a contract for a new flat. A young officer doctor of laws Mráček, who is supposed to put out the family and let the house pull down doesn't know that the wet residence suits the family tremendously. At a conference in Hamburg Wasserman receives a reprimand. Water sprites in Bohemia are dying out. They can loose their immortality and magic talents easily. It is enough to eat blood, to get a blood-transfusion, or to make love with a normal mortal. In this way the last Czech young water sprites and even the foreign suitors sent for Polly and Jana disappeared. Mráček insists on the vacation of the house and so the Vodičkas drown him. The unsuspecting Jana saves his life immediately by giving him the kiss of life. The couple starts to date together. Karel opposes his family and changes Matylda into a packet of flour and then gets rid of his immortality by a transfusion. Mráček's mother bakes a cherry soufflé from the found packet of flour. Jana saves the re-drowned Mráček again when she brings his soul in a mug to the mortuary. After various calamities the only water sprite is Wasserman and his Matylda risen in to giant size.
Note
Actor Jan Libíček started to shoot the part of Alois Vodička, after his sudden death Zdeněk Řehoř took this part over.
Photos
Cast
Libuše Šafránková
vodnice Jana Vodičková
Jaromír Hanzlík
JUDr. Jindřich Mráček, právník bytového úřadu
František Filipovský
vodník Bertík Vodička, správce půjčovny loděk
Miloš Kopecký
hlavní český vodník Wasserman
Vladimír Menšík
vodník Karel Vodička, plavčík
Zdeněk Řehoř
vodník Alois Vodička, potápěč a otec Jany
Stella Zázvorková
docentka Mráčková, Jindřichova matka
Eva Trejtnarová
vodnice Polly, Wassermanova dcera
Čestmír Řanda
velkovodník z řeky Inn Albert Bach
Míla Myslíková
vodnice Matylda, Wassermanova žena a sestra Vodičkových
Vlastimil Hašek
chirurg Honza, Jindřichův kamarád
Jiří Hrzán
vodník Thomas
Miroslav Masopust
vodník Rolf
Gabriela Wilhelmová
ošetřovatelka Růženka, Karlova přítelkyně
Dáša Neblechová
vodnice z řeky Inn Gerta, Bachova žena
Milena Steinmasslová
Krista, Janina kamarádka
Lucie Žulová
Vlaďka, Pollyina kamarádka
Jiří Lír
JUDr. Křeček, zástupce JUDr. Mráčka
Lubomír Kostelka
korektní úředník na kongresu vodníků
Bedřich Prokoš
předseda kongresu vodníků
Oldřich Velen
náměstek předsedy ONV
Mirko Musil
technik potápěčů
Karel Augusta
bufetář na plovárně
Raoul Schránil
vedoucí prodejny starožitností
Jan Cmíral
poručík VB
Miloš Vavruška
muž v bílém plášti
Karel Vavřík
vrátný na patologii
Jiřina Bílá
dáma v modrých plavkách
Adolf Filip
zřízenec pohřební služby
Vítězslav Černý
Patočka, zřízenec pohřební služby
Valerie Čižmárová
zpěvačka v baru
Zdeněk Braunschläger
taxikář
Karel Houska
vědec, kolega docentky Mráčkové
František Miroslav Doubrava
vědec, kolega docentky Mráčkové
Petr Hanus
Otík
Miloslav Homola
muž na voru
Karel Hovorka
listonoš Šmidra
Miroslav Čermák
sanitář
Stanislav Hájek
vodník z řeky Maas
Gustav Bubník
kluk s potápěčskými brýlemi
Václav Štercl
Mrázek, zřízenec na patologii
Ilona Jirotková
úřednice v inzerci
Jan Kraus
Jarda
Luďa Marešová
prodavačka v masně
Arnošt Proschek
Pollyin kamarád
Zdeněk Skalický
starší muž na baru
Jiří Vašků
důchodce
Jan Janků
úspěšný vodník
Rudolf Růžička (2)
cizí vodník
Miroslav Svoboda
vodník z jezera Lago Maggiore
Jan Krafka
záchranář
Vladimír Ptáček
záchranář
Jiří Suchánek
naháč
Ludvík Wolf
naháč
Antonín Filípek
skokan do vody
Pavel Kužela
skokan do vody
František Horek
plavec
Jaromír Laštovka
plavec
Karel Schumpeter
plavec
Jaroslav Sus
plavec
Karel Engel
kulturista
Bert Schneider
kulturista
Eva Hnátková
tanečnice v baru
Kristina Márová
tanečnice v baru
Jitka Nováková (2)
tanečnice v baru
Miloslav Kučaba
hudebník v baru
Max Kulhavý
hudebník v baru
Jiří Stárek
hudebník v baru
Evžen Straka
hudebník v baru
Zdeněk Šimůnek
hudebník v baru
Dubbing
Mirko Musil
hlas plešatého muže na baru
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Continuity
Screenstory
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Dramaturg
Director of Photography
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Bedřich Čermák, Jaromír Bieber, Miroslav Buberle
Costume Designer
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
Special Effects
Titles Designed by
Adolf Born, Jaroslav Doubrava (animace)
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Vlasta Mathauserová, Věra Winkelhöferová
Unit Production Manager
Daniela Norová
Consultant
Cooperation
Olga Hrčková (klapka), Alena Červená (fotografka)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Orchestr Karla Vágnera (Music Conducted by Karel Vágner)
Songs
Znala panna pána
Songwriter Vítězslav Hádl
Writer of Lyrics Petr Markov
Singer Václav NeckářHelena Vondráčková
Pár svých duší mít
Songwriter Vítězslav Hádl
Writer of Lyrics Petr Markov
Singer Valerie Čižmárová
Production info
Original Title
Jak utopit dr. Mráčka aneb Konec vodníků v Čechách
Czech Title
Jak utopit dr. Mráčka aneb Konec vodníků v Čechách
English Title
How to Drown Dr Mráček or The End of Water Sprites in Bohemia
Working Title
Jak utopit dr. Mráčka
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
fantastic, comedy
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1974
Production Year
1974
Premiere
gala premiere 5 March 1975 (Dům kultury Vítkovických železáren Klementa Gottwalda, Ostrava)
premiere 14 March 1975 /suitable for youths/
renewed premiere 1 June 1984 /suitable for youths/
renewed premiere 7 April 2022 /suitable for youths/
Production
Copyright Holders
Distribution
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1975 a obnovená 1984), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2022)
Creative Group
Dramaturgická skupina Vladimíra Kaliny, Vladimír Kalina (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
100 min
Original length in metres
2 728 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: Mezinárodní technická filmová soutěž při kongresu Mezinárodní unie filmových kritků Moskva
1976
Moska / Russia
Vítěz
Festival: 14. mezinárodní festival vědeckofantastických filmů Terst
1976
Terst / Italy
Vítěz
Exhibition: 4. mezinárodní přehlídka humoristických filmů La Coruña
1976
La Coruña / Spain
