A Ballad for the Bandit

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1978

Production year

1978

Premiere

15 June 1979

Runtime

89 min

Director

Vladimír Sís

Genre

musical

Typology

featurelong

Original title

Balada pro banditu

Czech title

Balada pro banditu

English title

A Ballad for the Bandit

Summary

There have been various film adaptations of Ivan Olbracht’s classic novel Nikola Šuhaj loupežník (Nikola Šuhaj, Outlaw). By far the most popular of these, however, is the film version of the cult musical by Brno’s Husa na provázku (Goose on a String) theatre – A Ballad for the Bandit (1978). The author of the updated version of the classic story about a rebel bandit was the banned dramatist and writer Milan Uhde, who had to hide behind a pseudonym – passing himself off as a theatre director called Zdeněk Pospišil. For the purposes of a musical spectacle, Uhde and the composer Miloš Štědron created songs inspired by folk templates, which quickly became popular during the “normalisation” era of Soviet entrenchment after the Warsaw Pact invasion. Olbracht’s original balladic story was geographically tied to Carpathian Ruthenia and to the time of the First World War. The adaptation, however, preserved the universal story of romantic love between the outlaw Nikola and the villager Eržika, while adding the topical dimension of an individual grappling with malevolent and unjust authority. The director Vladimír Sís used the original cast for the film version. Besides Miroslav Donutil (Nikola) and Iva Bittová (Eržika), who was only 18 years old at the time, Boleslav Polívka adds a distinctive tone to the film in the role of the slippery innkeeper Mageri. In his movie, Sís uses a “theatre within a theatre” to frame the action, whereby a group of young people with guitars (played by actors, of course) decide to retell the tale of the legendary bandit. Sís set the entire story in an outdoor theatre (Andělská hora near Karlovy Vary), which is complemented not only by audience members (who sometimes even join in the action) but also by the popular country group Zelenáči. With the aid of cinematographer Viktor Růžička, Sís succeeded in marrying the specific poetics of a Western with the timeless qualities of a legendary piece of theatre, which since the 1970s has for the most part remained a timeless story about the desire for freedom.

Synopsis

The amphitheatre of the open-air theatre is filled with young spectators, at the courtyard there prepare the actors, they lit up bonfire, sing a song about "the chap from Koločava" and the story begins... Nikola and Uhrín, deserters of war, make the promise to the old hag Morana that they will marry her daughters. Of reward Uhrín will get rich and Nikola will never be injured by a bullet. The men do not want to keep a promise and prefer killing the hag. In Koločava Nikola is awaited by his beloved Eržika. But Eržika's father does not give her away in marriage to a poor man. Therefore Nikola becomes a highwayman. People in country suffer want and thus other men join Nikola. Eržika becomes a highwayman's wife. Her brother wants to kill Nikola but at the duel it is he who perishes. The gendarmes force the villagers to cooperate, one of them tries to poison Nikola but eternal Morana saves his life. The commander of gendarmes attempts to take hold of Nikola by snare. He sends to Eržika a handsome gendarme Kubeš but Kubeš falls in love with Eržika and wants for the sake of love to leave service. Nikola, however, shoots him dead. The gendarmes threaten that they will call in troops and the villagers will have to feed them. The local rich man Magery promises Nikola´s companions Derbak and Danek a great sum of money if they kill the highwayman. The longing for money wins and the two former friends kill Nikola and his younger brother with an axe. At the flickering fire Eržika sings a melancholy song, the actors join the spectators and all are parting.

Note

The theatre musical, which the film was based on, was presented by the Brno "Theatre at the String" in 1975. The co-author was Milan Uhde. However, at the time, for political reason, he was then concealed with his name incognito. The lyrics arose as the adaptation of folklore texts.

Film online

Voyo →

Photos

tramp

Vysokoškolský umělecký soubor UK

Crew and creators

Director

Vladimír Sís

Second Unit Director

Vladimír Zelenka

Assistant Director

Zdeněk Pazdírek, Zdenka Barochová

Screenstory

Zdeněk Pospíšil

Based on

Milan Uhde (Balada pro banditu – divadelní hra), Miloš Štědroň (Balada pro banditu – divadelní hra)

Set Designer

Václav Kozel, Jan Petrů, Milan Šefrna

Costume Designer

Jana Zbořilová

Costumes

Jozef Ciller, Vlastimil Hasala, Růžena Bulíčková

Make-Up Artist

František Malec, Šárka Šimůnková

Film Editor

Jaromír Janáček

Sound Designer

František Strangmüller

Stunts

Karel Engel, Miroslav Jíra, Jaroslav Klenot, Jiří Klenot, Ladislav Lahoda (dubl za M. Donutila), Pavel Myslík, Jindřich Sejk, Oldřich Semerák, Zdeněk Srstka, Jaroslav Šanda, Jaroslav Tomsa, Jaroslav Vlk, Karel Vítek ml.

Production Manager

Jaromír Lukáš

Unit Production Manager

Milana Melcerová, Jaroslav Vágner

Unit Production Manager

Jiří Synek

Cooperation

Jana Zavázalová, Josef Vítek, Anna Mejtská, Gabriela Pitráková, Jan Sedláček (2)

Music

Music Composed by

Miloš Štědroň, Vlastimil Hála

Music Performed by

FISYO, skupina Zelenáči

Music Conducted by

František Belfín (FISYO)

Songs

Zabili, zabili, Tmavá nocka, Křížem krážem, Ani tak nehoří, Kterýpak jste který?, Řekla jsem si, milý, Tam u řeky na kraji, Večer zmizí, přijde ráno, Ach, bože, přebože, Pročpak mě chytáte, Kamarádi moji, Pojďme, chlapci, pojďme krást, Jede forman dolinou, Zazpívejme, chlapci, jednosvorně, Leží chlapec, Chodí horou tři sta ovec, Nepůjdu od tebe, Jatelinka drobná, Dobrý večer vám, Šibeničky, Řekněte mamce, prokrista, Bylo tu, není tu, Nebudu orat ani set, Pod javorem, Stavěli, stavěli

Songwriter

Miloš Štědroň (Zabili, zabili), Miloš Štědroň (Tmavá nocka), Miloš Štědroň (Křížem krážem), Miloš Štědroň (Ani tak nehoří), Miloš Štědroň (Kterýpak jste který?), Miloš Štědroň (Řekla jsem si, milý), Miloš Štědroň (Tam u řeky na kraji), Miloš Štědroň (Večer zmizí, přijde ráno), lidová píseň (Ach, bože, přebože), Miloš Štědroň (Pročpak mě chytáte), Miloš Štědroň (Kamarádi moji), Miloš Štědroň (Pojďme, chlapci, pojďme krást), Miloš Štědroň (Jede forman dolinou), Miloš Štědroň (Zazpívejme, chlapci, jednosvorně), Miloš Štědroň (Leží chlapec), Miloš Štědroň (Chodí horou tři sta ovec), Miloš Štědroň (Nepůjdu od tebe), Miloš Štědroň (Jatelinka drobná), Miloš Štědroň (Dobrý večer vám), Miloš Štědroň (Šibeničky), Miloš Štědroň (Řekněte mamce, prokrista), Miloš Štědroň (Bylo tu, není tu), Miloš Štědroň (Nebudu orat ani set), Miloš Štědroň (Pod javorem), Miloš Štědroň (Stavěli, stavěli)

Writer of Lyrics

Milan Uhde (Zabili, zabili), Milan Uhde (Tmavá nocka), Milan Uhde (Křížem krážem), Milan Uhde (Ani tak nehoří), Milan Uhde (Kterýpak jste který?), Milan Uhde (Řekla jsem si, milý), Milan Uhde (Tam u řeky na kraji), Milan Uhde (Večer zmizí, přijde ráno), Milan Uhde (Pročpak mě chytáte), Milan Uhde (Kamarádi moji), Milan Uhde (Pojďme, chlapci, pojďme krást), Milan Uhde (Jede forman dolinou), Milan Uhde (Jede forman dolinou), Milan Uhde (Leží chlapec), Milan Uhde (Chodí horou tři sta ovec), Milan Uhde (Nepůjdu od tebe), Milan Uhde (Jatelinka drobná), Milan Uhde (Dobrý večer vám), Milan Uhde (Šibeničky), Milan Uhde (Řekněte mamce, prokrista), Milan Uhde (Bylo tu, není tu), Milan Uhde (Nebudu orat ani set), Milan Uhde (Pod javorem), Milan Uhde (Stavěli, stavěli)

Singer

Iva Bittová (Zabili, zabili), Blanka Rudová (Tmavá nocka), mužský sbor (Křížem krážem), Miroslav Donutil (Ani tak nehoří), Miroslav Donutil (Kterýpak jste který?), Iva Bittová (Řekla jsem si, milý), Miroslav Donutil (Řekla jsem si, milý), Iva Bittová (Tam u řeky na kraji), Miroslav Donutil (Tam u řeky na kraji), Blanka Rudová (Tam u řeky na kraji), dívčí sbor (Tam u řeky na kraji), Iva Bittová (Večer zmizí, přijde ráno), dívčí sbor (Večer zmizí, přijde ráno), sbor (Ach, bože, přebože), Miroslav Donutil (Pročpak mě chytáte), mužský sbor (Pročpak mě chytáte), mužský sbor (Kamarádi moji), Miroslav Donutil (Pojďme, chlapci, pojďme krást), sbor (Pojďme, chlapci, pojďme krást), dívčí sbor (Jede forman dolinou), Miroslav Donutil (Pojďme, chlapci, pojďme krást), sbor (Zazpívejme, chlapci, jednosvorně), sbor (Leží chlapec), Iva Bittová (Chodí horou tři sta ovec), Iva Bittová (Nepůjdu od tebe), Pavel Nový (Nepůjdu od tebe), Miroslav Donutil (Jatelinka drobná), Miroslav Donutil (Dobrý večer vám), sbor (Dobrý večer vám), sbor (Šibeničky), Miroslav Donutil (Řekněte mamce, prokrista), Miroslav Donutil (Bylo tu, není tu), sbor (Nebudu orat ani set), sbor (Pod javorem), sbor (Stavěli, stavěli)

Choreographer

Jan Hartmann

Production info

Original Title

Balada pro banditu

English Title

A Ballad for the Bandit

Typology

feature

Genre

musical

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1978

Production Year

1978

Premiere

15 June 1979

Production

Filmové studio Barrandov

Copyright Holders

A Ballad for the Bandit

Country

Copyright

Production year

Premiere

Runtime

Director

Category

Genre

Typology

Original title

Czech title

English title

Summary

Synopsis

Note

Film online

Photos

Cast

Petr Maláč

Blanka Rudová

Alice Hašová

Michaela Dudová

Renata Hanáková

František Olšovský

Ronald Heller

Jiří Kosek

Břetislav Tetera

Solon Arcanidis

František Král (2)

Jaromír Tichý

Pavel Tichý

Jan Vyskočil

Antonín Klepáč

Jiřina Krepsová

Ivana Nejdlová

Věra Šišková

Pavla Schönová

Bohumila Teterová

Petr Bryndač

Jaroslav Hnyk

Pavel Král

Vladimír Štýbr

Vít Tučný

Marie Hlináková

Blažena Karasová

Václav Zajíc

Crew and creators

Director

Second Unit Director

Assistant Director

Screenstory

Based on

Screenplay

Shooting Script

Script Editor

Camera

Second Unit Photography

Camera Operator

Production Designer

Set Designer

Costume Designer

Costumes

Make-Up Artist

Film Editor

Sound Designer

Stunts

Production Manager

Unit Production Manager

Unit Production Manager

Cooperation

Music

Music Composed by

Music Performed by

Music Conducted by

Songs

Songwriter

Writer of Lyrics

Singer

Choreographer