Tough Luck

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1977

Production year

1977

Runtime

40 min

Category

film

Genre

comedy

Typology

featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent filmmedium

Original title

Malér

Czech title

Malér

English title

Tough Luck

Synopsis

Commercial traveller Traps is forced to stop at an unfamiliar village after his car breaks down. The owner of the house where Traps asks for help is extremely accommodating. Repairing the car will take until the following day and he offers the young man a bed for the night. The host is a retired judge and the friends he has asked over for dinner are his former colleagues. They invite the unexpected guest to play a mock-court game with them. It's a game they play together from time to time, but their rules don't always follow the country's criminal law - for instance, they approve of the death sentence. Over excellent food and wine and convivial entertainment, the judges extract many ugly details from the suspect Traps, who has so far considered himself entirely blameless. One year before, the young man took advantage of his attractive looks to seduce his superior's wife. The boss was so shocked at the revelation of his wife's infidelity that he died prematurely of a heart attack. With the boss no longer in the way of Traps's career, the young subordinate took up his position. The state prosecutor qualifies the act as premeditated murder. Intoxicated with the wine and the general atmosphere of pathos, Traps is willing to repent his act and accept the punishment. In the morning, the men go to Traps's room. But the trap they have set up there is empty. Settled contentedly in his car, Traps continues his journey.

Cast

Petr Kostka

obchodní cestující Alfred Traps

Jiří Holý

státní návladní Kurt Zorn

Eduard Dubský

obhájce Kummer

Crew and creators

Based on

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Malér /Die Panne/ – povídka)

Director of Photography

Hana Hovorková

Camera Operator

Stanislav Bukovský

Production Designer

Aleš Voleman

Costume Designer

Lída Novotná

Make-Up Artist

Marie Džbánková

Sound Designer

Josef Hubka

Production Manager

Rudolf Karas, Karel Fiala

Unit Production Manager

Jindřich Ujčík

Pedagogical management

Jiří Sequens (režie), Jan Kališ (kamera), Vladimír Volf (produkce), Josef Valušiak (střih)

Music

Music Composed by

archivní

Music Advisor

Ivo Bláha

Songs

Rock around the Clock

Song Composer Max C. Freedman
Writer of Lyrics Jimmy DeKnight
Singer Bill Haley

Production info

Original Title

Malér

Czech Title

Malér

English Title

Tough Luck

Category

film

Typology

featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent film

Genre

comedy

Student film

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1977

Production Year

1977

Production

Studio FAMU

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

40 min

Original length in metres

1 125 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech