Blue Chrysanthemum

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production year

1982

Runtime

31 min

Category

povídka

Genre

short-story

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Modrá chryzantéma

Czech title

Modrá chryzantéma

English title

Blue Chrysanthemum

Synopsis

Inspector Fulín arrives by train at the village of Lubenec to visit the local duchy residence. He is picked up by the caretaker Arnošt at the railway station. On the way, they run into the mad and deaf-mute girl Klára. The old duke looks very ascetic; the only passion of his life seems to be growing plants in his garden and his giant greenhouse. Inspector Fulín appears to be very familiar with bulbs, and the eccentric duke thus entrusts him with an essential task: to find out from where the otherwise mad Klára brings the unique flowers – blue chrysanthemums. An automobile trip does not help solve the mystery because the enthusiastically braying girl agrees with any direction. The car eventually goes too far. Fulín therefore calculates the approximate distance which the girl is able to walk. Search parties are put together of pupils of the adjacent schools, local inhabitants and members of the local police. But the action eventually fails and the duke fires Fulín. The inspector ensconces himself on a train by the window. But after a while, he notices something what makes him pull the emergency brake: the fence of the small house of the railway watchman is covered with tufts of a blue flower. The morose watchman, who considers the unique flower to be just a weed, refuses to sell him the flowers. He even bans him from getting close to them because they grow too near to the track where pedestrians are forbidden to go. Fulín nevertheless succeeds in seizing several flowers and takes them to the city on the next train.

Cast

Josef Kemr

kníže/vechtr

František Husák

inspektor Fulín

Jiří Kodet

správce Arnošt

Lenka Machoninová

hluchoněmá Klára

Václav Kotva

zahradník Josef

Mirko Musil

průvodčí

Ladislav Chroust

hostinský Vencl

Crew and creators

Assistant Director

Jan Dolejš

Based on

Karel Čapek (Modrá chryzantéma – povídka ze sbírky Povídky z jedné kapsy)

Director of Photography

Ivan Šlapeta

Second Unit Photography

Ladislav Chroust

Camera Operator

Jiří Maxa

Production Designer

Vladimír Labský

Assistent Production Designer

František Dvořák

Set Designer

Miloslav Dvořák, Jiří Forst, Karel Vaňásek, Lubomír Kafka

Costume Designer

Šárka Váchová

Film Editor

Jiří Brožek

Assistant Film Editor

Růžena Hejsková, Eva Horázná

Sound Designer

Jiří Kříž

Production Manager

Vladimír Vojta

Unit Production Manager

Ivo Pitrák, Hana Jarošová

Unit Production Manager

Ivo Musil

Consultant

Jaroslav Vítovec, Karel Cinke

Cooperation

Juraj Herz (režijní supervize), Ivana Vlčková (klapka), Zdeněk Dukát (fotograf), Karel Ješátko (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Jaroslav Krček

Selected Music

Antonín Dvořák (Rusalka)

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín)

Songs

Ku Praze je cesta dlouhá

Production info

Original Title

Modrá chryzantéma

Czech Title

Modrá chryzantéma

English Title

Blue Chrysanthemum

Category

povídka

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

short-story

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1982

Production Year

1982

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Vladimíra Kaliny, Vladimír Kalina (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

31 min

Original length in metres

864 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