The Vineyard Opera

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1981

Production year

1981

Premiere

4 June 1982

Runtime

90 min

Director

Jaromil Jireš

Genre

ballad

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Opera ve vinici

Czech title

Opera ve vinici

English title

The Vineyard Opera

Working title

Mikulecké pole / Smrtka na bílém koni

Summary

Musician and screenwriter Vladimír Mertawas drawn to portraying the timeless charm of Moravian folk music based on his own experiences. The hero of this poetically minded tale is a journalism student named Honza (Jan Hartl), who happens upon a unique folk song composer, František Hřebačka (played by Josef Kemr), known by the monicker of Fanoš Mikulecký. Thanks to the elder man and his songs, the young urbanite, who had only valued foreign rock music, finds a path to his natural roots. Merta, a popular singer-songwriter and graduate of Prague’s FAMU film school, long tried in vain to make his directorial debut during the “normalisation” period via the state-run Barrandov Film Studios. The realisation of his screenplay only came about thanks to Jaromil Jireš; but the experienced director, in whose work musical themes also play an important role, could not of course defend Merta’s concept from a dose of censorship.

Synopsis

The not too successful student and also rock group singer Honza dances for the sake of a bet in the centre of Prague, clad in a folk costume and paraphrasing a folk dance. Nobody takes any notice of him except Honza's rigorous teacher who passes by and recommends him not to even go to the exams. Some time ago, the leader of the rock group invited a Moravian-Slovakian band and its singers onto the stage during a concert but the audience intolerantly booed the folk musicians. Honza sets off to Moravia to meet the swaggering singer Adámek and the pretty solo singer Eva. He spends the night in the open air and, in the morning, unwittingly spoils the filming of a documentary about Moravian folklore. He is saved from trouble by the generous professor of ethnography. He appoints Honza as his assistant and introduces him to a painter of both walls and paintings, Fano Hřebačka, who uses the nickname Mikulecký. It was he who provided the ethnography professor with countless songs about wine, love and farewells over the years. Recently, the eternally ailing Fano sensed he was dying. He therefore confessed to his friends that, actually, he himself composed most of the songs, using the motifs of Moravian folk melodies. Honza decides to employ the subject of folklore in his university thesis and to arrange copyright and royalties for Fano at the Society for the Protection of the Rights of Music Authors and Publishers. Eva not only flirts with the singer Adámek and his eternal rival, the forester Ondra, but also with Honza. But the student does not fulfill her wish to be taken away from Moravia. Fano recognizes his songs in a broadcast from a Brno radio station. He attends a performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. He decides to write a theatre play with songs and entitles it The Rebel from Prechov. He casts his fellow-citizens in the roles and choirs, staging the performance for the entire village. Adámek as the Forest Robber and Ondra as the Count reckon with each other during the reharsals. Fano is haunted by the chimera of death but he lives to see the premiere. Honza and the ethnography professor are invited to the wedding of Eva and Adámek. But the wedding guests, all dressed in folk costumes, are sad. Fano's friend projects amateur shots from his funeral onto a white canvas. The place where the author of so many beautiful songs wanted to be burried is, however, now intersected by a highway.

Note

The film was dedicated to the inhabitants of the Lusatian Basin in Moravia.

Photos

Cast

Josef Kemr

Fanoš Hřebačka-Mikulecký

Jan Hartl

student Honza

Lenka Kucharská

Eva

Radovan Lukavský

profesor etnografie

Svatopluk Skopal

zpěvák Adámek

Oldřich Navrátil

lesník Ondra

Zdeněk Blažek

Mosela

Mnislav Hofmann

listonoš Ogara

Václav Babka

předseda družstva

Lubomír Kostelka

komediant Kocfelda

Helena Trýbová

Fanošova žena

Miroslav Zounar

právník na OSA

Rudolf Pellar

profesor

František Ringo Čech

konferenciér-kapelník

Rostislav Novák

přítel Jiří

Zdeněk Kampf

poslanec

Vlastimil Peška

archivář

Jitka Zelenohorská

technička v rozhlasu

Hana Čížková

redaktorka

Director

Jaromil Jireš

Second Unit Director

Michal Vostřez

Assistant Director

Zdeněk Fiala

Unit Production Manager

Jana Koubová, Jarmila Tomišková

Unit Production Manager

Jiří Potsch, L. Pech, Pavel Bačkovský

Consultant

Pavel Popelka, Pravomil Kotásek, Maryška Kotásková, Jan Maděrič

Cooperation

Vítězslava Marčíková (klapka), Jan Kuděla (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

František Hřebačka-Mikulecký, Zdeněk Pololáník, Vladimír Mišík

Selected Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Don Giovanni /závěr/)

Music Performed by

Cimbálová muzika Slovácko (Music Conducted by Přemysl Líčeník), FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Dechovka Venkovanka, skupina ETC

Songs

Taxůvku jsme chytli

Song Composer Vladimír Mišík
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Mišík
Singer Jan Hartl [dab]Vladimír Mišíkskupina ETC

Mikulecké pole

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Ej, eště dneskaj jako tako

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Bude večer, už zapadá slunéčko

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Zabite ňa, šak su márny

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Padá, padá rosenka

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Putovali hudci

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Kamarádi moji, tu ňa nenechajte

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Vínečko bílé

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Išlo dívča, išlo v sukni červenej

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Byly časy, byly

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Záhorácké pole

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Kosí Jano, kosí trávu

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Keď by sa ptali hodonští páni

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Janíček /Dyž jsme šli na hody bylo nás jedenáct/

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Ej, mája mája, vysoká mája

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Přespolní šuhajku, nechoď k méj galánce

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Ej, huska, sivá huska

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Ej, zazpívaj, slavíčku

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer Národopisný soubor PolajkaLenka KrálováZdeněk Baťka

Chodníček bělavý mezi vinohrady

Song Composer František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Writer of Lyrics František Hřebačka-Mikulecký
Singer skupina Moravanka

Production info

Original Title

Opera ve vinici

Czech Title

Opera ve vinici

English Title

The Vineyard Opera

Working Title

Mikulecké pole / Smrtka na bílém koni

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

ballad

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1981

Production Year

1981

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 24 March 1980
start of filming 11 February 1981
technical Screenplay approved 19 March 1981
end of filming 26 October 1981
projection approval 4 December 1981

Premiere

premiere 4 June 1982 /suitable for youths/

Production

Filmové studio Barrandov

Copyright Holders

Státní fond kinematografie

Studio

Barrandov

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Drahoslava Makovičky, Drahoslav Makovička (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Sales

Národní filmový archiv, Obchodní oddělení

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

90 min

Original length in metres

2 520 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 20. festival českých a slovenských filmů Ústí nad Labem

1982
Ústí nad Labem / Czechoslovakia
Emil Sirotek st.

The Vineyard Opera

Country

Copyright

Production year

Premiere

Runtime

Director

Category

Genre

Typology

Original title

Czech title

English title

Working title

Summary

Synopsis

Note

Photos

Cast

dětský soubor Podlužánek

Petr Pokorný

Jiří Šustera

Pavel Hanuš (2)

Miroslav Borský

Ján Hadraba

Karel Macho

Václav Pokorný (3)

Miroslav Šindelář

Richard Štukheil

Vladimír Vodeničarov

Zbyněk Matoušek

Přemysl Líčeník

Stanislav Kalužík

Jan Križko

Milan Maláník

Jiří Morávek

Pavel Pavka

Stanislav Pavka

Karel Prát

Zdeněk Salajka

Miroslav Vávra

Ladislav Bohunský

Josef Dvořáček

Lubomír Dvořáček

Miroslav Hubačka

Miroslav Jurásek

Jiří Kolovrátek

Jan Kosík

Petr Nerád

Stanislav Výmola

Jarmila Balůnová

Marta Dřevěná

Božena Ducháčková

Jaroslava Glosová

Ludmila Ježová

Věra Kocmanová

Hana Marková

Miloslava Pavková

Naďa Pindová

Miroslava Výmolová

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

Art Director

Set Designer

Costume Designer

Costumes

Make-Up Artist

Film Editor