Fate Named Kamila

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1974

Production year

1974

Premiere

21 June 1974

Runtime

96 min

Category

film

Genre

crime

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Osud jménem Kamila

Czech title

Osud jménem Kamila

English title

Fate Named Kamila

Summary

In 1974, director Petr Schulhoff added to his already considerable list of crime films with Osud jménem Kamila (Fate Named Kamila). This drama, inspired by real-life events, tells the story of the theft of precious stamps from a postal museum. Things spiral out of control for the crooks involved. Taxi driver Tomáš Gross and his younger brother, bricklayer Pavel, also involve their youngest sibling, 16-year-old Ondra, in the heist. But thanks to the inexperience of the perpetrators, Tomáš’s plan to emigrate to Switzerland in order to be with lovely waitress Kamila begins to seriously unravel. Jiří Klem, Jaroslav Drbohlav and Vladimír Dlouhý play the three Gross brothers. The aforementioned Kamila remains unseen; she is merely a representation of Tomáš’s longing for freedom in Switzerland. However, Tomáš’s lover Eva is portrayed by Renáta Doleželová.

Synopsis

It is 1970 and taxi-driver Tomáš Gross is planning to leave for Switzerland to join his great love Kamila, previously a waitress in a Prague bar. With the help of his younger brother, bricklayer Pavel, Tomáš has already been stealing statuettes from churches and selling them to the antique-dealer Pánek, who has given him a letter from Kamila inviting him to join her, but on one condition: he must steal a rare stamp called the Vltava Carmine at a philatelic exhibition as a fee for the Swiss tourist Richter who will smuggle him over the border. Tomáš also brings his youngest brother, the sixteen-year-old Ondra, to Prague. He puts him up with Pavel in his bedsit, finding a false excuse to eject the girl Eva with whom he has been living since Kamila's emigration. Pressurized by their brother, Pavel and Ondra steal the stamp, but in their fear they use violence against the old woman attendant at the exhibition. The two boys, appalled that they may have become murderers, realize Tomáš's true nature, for he has taken the stamp and vanished. At the agreed place, Richter locks Tomáš into the trunk of the rented car, but just drives him to the woods and leaves him there. Richter then gets across the border in his own car. Pavel and Ondra learn from the newspapers with relief that the woman was only injured, and give themselves up to the police. Security men then free the nearly suffocating Tomáš from the car trunk. They tell him that the stolen stamp was just a copy for the display case and that the "tourist" Richter is in reality Kamila's husband.

Film online

Cast

Jiří Klem

taxikář Tomáš Gross

Renáta Doleželová

Voice by Stanislava Bartošová
Eva, Tomášova milá

Marie Drahokoupilová

barmanka Ilona

Zdeněk Ornest

vedoucí starožitnictví Karel Pánek

Jaroslav Drbohlav

zedník Pavel, Tomášův bratr

Vladimír Dlouhý

Ondra, Tomášův nejmladší bratr

Jürgen Frohriep

švýcarský turista Richter

Jan Pohan

kapitán VB Bartoš

Nina Popelíková

matka Marie Grossová

Jan Víšek

recepční

Arnoštka Červená

Voice by Marie Motlová
hlídačka v poštovním muzeu Kučerov

Karel Vavřík

hlídač v muzeu

Mirko Musil

vedoucí autoopravny Čejka

Alena Hessová

prodavačka ve starožitnictví Lída

Jiřina Bílá

šatnářka

Jan Kraus

výrostek

Miloslav Homola

zákazník

Vincenc Vávra

host v baru

Ladislav Knížátko

host v baru

Dana Klossová

blondýna v baru

Věra Liptáková

dívka u baru

Ivan Martan

švihák

Josefa Pechlátová

babka v kostele

Jaroslava Panenková

žena před Poštovním muzeem

Eva Ziková

dívka u stolu

Karel Karas

Angličan

Slávka Hamouzová

starší paní

Anna Bartošová

servírka

Daniela Šauerová

servírka

Marie Černá (2)

plavovláska

Vladimír Štros

manžel ve starožitnictví

Anna Štrosová

manželka ve starožitnictví

Stanislav Litera

příslušník Pohraniční stráže

Bert Schneider

příslušník VB

Zdeněk Skalický

číšník v baru

Beyene Afework

cizinec

Vít Clar

hudebník

Jan Pospíšil

hudebník

Miloš Vychytil

hudebník

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Jaroslav Pour

Assistant Director

Robert Vacík

Continuity

Eva Kolářová

Shooting Script

Petr Schulhoff

Director of Photography

Josef Illík

Second Unit Photography

Adolf Hejzlar

Camera Operator

Jiří Ondráček

Production Designer

Zbyněk Hloch

Assistent Production Designer

Věra Líznerová

Set Designer

Miroslav Buberle, Bedřich Čermák, Jaromír Bieber

Costume Designer

Lída Novotná

Make-Up Artist

Karel Marek, Alena Šedová, J. Křížek

Film Editor

Jan Chaloupek

Assistant Film Editor

Alena Havlíčková, Anna Mejtská

Sound Designer

František Fabián

Production Manager

Jiří Krejčí

Unit Production Manager

Věra Winkelhöferová, Vlasta Mathauserová

Unit Production Manager

Daniela Norová

Consultant

Karel Kalivoda, Rudolf Fischer

Cooperation

Olga Hrčková (klapka), Josef Vítek (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Luboš Fišer

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)

Songs

Tichá noc /Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht/

Song Composer Franz Xaver Gruber

Production info

Original Title

Osud jménem Kamila

Czech Title

Osud jménem Kamila

English Title

Fate Named Kamila

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

crime

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1974

Production Year

1974

Production specifications

projection approval 12 March 1974

Premiere

premiere 20 June 1974 /unsuitable for youths/ (kino Letka, Praha)
premiere 21 June 1974 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Miloše Macourka, Miloš Macourek (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

96 min

Original length in metres

2 682 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, German

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Event: Prémie Českého literárního fondu za rok 1974

1975
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Petr Schulhoff