Shipwreck
Typology
featureCzech title
VrakRuntime
84Country
Czechoslovakia, BulgariaCopyright
1983Production year
1983Premiere
01.06.1984Language version
CzechDirector
Ivo TomanSummary
The classic literary work of Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson novel spurred screenwriters to script this adventure movie by transferring a storyline to the Bulgarian city of Varna, on the Black Sea. Vrak (Shipwreck), a coproduction with Bulgarian filmmakers, takes the audience back to the year of 1908. The main character is a young Czech man, František Roučka. While in the employment of his father’s schoolmate Schuman, he witnesses the ruthless scheming of a Greek ship owner. Roučka goes on to discover that the owner of the shipwrecked Apolonia has handed over Bulgarian patriots to the Turks. The Bulgarians have thus paid the ultimate price for their attempt to return to home soil… Director Ivo Toman cast David Vejražka in the role of the uncompromising Roučka. An interesting aspect of this 1983 film is the casting of Olga Schoberová. The role of Schuman’s wife Klára would be her last appearance on the silver screen.
Synopsis
It is 1908. A young man from Prague, named Frantiek Roučka, arrives in the Bulgarian city of Varna to launch his business career there on his father's wish and under his former schoolmate Helmut Schuman. Helmut ranks amongst the respected entrepreneurs in Varna. He learns from the newspaper about the foundering of the Greek ship Apolonia which was transporting leather to the value of twenty thousand Leva. The two friends decide to buy the shipwreck. But visiting the Apolonia's captain, named Nikos, who behaves very oddly, makes them feel that the ship was carrying something much more valuable than leather. Attorney Berger, however, shows up at the auction, driving the price up to seventy thousand Leva and, in negotiation, even offers Helmut and Frantiek one hundred thousand Leva to surrender the shipwreck to him. The two men refuse. They find out during their next visit to Nikos that the captain has been murdered. They thus hire a boat with a crew and Frantiek sets off to the shipwreck. He does not trust anybody because unpredictible things keep happening on the hired boat. They eventually reach the shipwreck, finding no gold but corpses hidden under the leathers. One of the sailors, named Janis, tells them about the horrifying events that occurred on the ship. The dead men are the Bulgarians who were escaping from Turkey, but as soon as they paid the ship's owner, he sold them back to the Turks. Captain Nikos protested against this practice. The Bulgarians were killed right away, then Nikos later, on dry land. The two friends find out after their return that the man behind the crimes was doctor Feldek, an esteemed businessman. Helmut accepts a bribe from him for his silence, but Frantiek is firmly resolved to contribute to the culprit's punishment.
Photos
Cast
David Vejražka
František Roučka
Jan Piechociński
obchodník Helmut Schuman
Olga Schoberová
Klára, Helmutova žena
Stojčo Mazgalov
kapitán Nastev
Petar Slabakov
Nikos, kapitán lodi Apolonie
Ilja Racek
loďmistr Neuerburg
Miroslav Macháček
advokát Berger
Javor Milušev
námořník Janis
Bogomil Atanasov
námořník Pečkov
Veliko Stojanov
kormidelník Koster
Alexandr Lilov
námořník Max
Josef Hajdučík
obchodník Danailov
Leoš Suchařípa
dr. Feldek
Rudolf Horák
Reichen
Vladimír Huber
starý sluha
Karel Koloušek
člen správní rady Kokinis
Jan Kuželka
fotograf
Jan Cmíral
číšník
Stefan Kostov
kuchař Nassie
Stanislav Němec
muž ve vestě
Rudolf Mráz
recepční
Blažej Vráb
člen správní rady
Arnošt Böhm
turecký voják
Jiří Kalenský
turecký voják
Ladislav Lahoda
turecký voják
Petr Jákl
námořník
Petr Drozda
námořník
Hana Forejtová
mladá žena
Pavel Myslík
pravoslavný kněz
Jakim Michov
vyvolávač Kasatonov
Ivan Jordanov
hospodský Trajko
Petar Getov
Jaroslav Tomsa
dubl Nikose
Dubbing
Ladislav Županič
hlas Helmuta
Veronika Freimanová
hlas Kláry
Bohumil Švarc
hlas kapitána Nasteva
Milan Mach
hlas Nikose
Karel Chromík
hlas Janise
Jiří Novotný
hlas Pečkova
Jiří Štěpnička
hlas Kostera
Jiří Havel
hlas Maxe
Václav Stýblo
hlas Feldeka
Dalimil Klapka
hlas kuchaře
Václav Kaňkovský
hlas vyvolávače
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Josef Loučím, Radost Račeva
Assistant Director
Aleš Voverka, Helena Kadlecová, Vasja Panova, Nikolaj Bosilkov
Based on
Robert Louis Stevenson (Vrak /The Wrecker/ – román)
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Script Editor
Camera
Second Unit Photography
Kovář Oldřich (kamera)
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Set Designer
Todorka Bistrekova, Karel Kracík, Miloš Sršeň, Milan Šefrna
Costume Designer
Make-Up Artist
František Čížek, Miroslav Buhr, Bogdanka Karajanova, Vlasta Hájková, Julia Sisakova
Film Editor
Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Rudolf Mos, Miladin Ivanov, Hana Štefanová
Unit Production Manager
Přemysl Čermák
Cooperation
Renata Čihulková, Růžena Hejsková, Helena Lehovcová, Petr Pištěk, Zdenek Sirový, Orlin Nedelčev, Alena Červená
Music
Production info
Original Title
Vrak
English Title
Shipwreck
Parallel Title
Tajnata na Apolonija
Copyright
1983
Production Year
1983
Premiere
01.06.1984
Copyright Holders
Creative Group
Technical info
Versions
Czech