Juice Novel

narrative

Typology

feature

Czech title

Džusový román

Runtime

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1984

Production year

1984

Premiere

01.01.1988

Language version

Czech

Summary

Džusový román (Juicy Novel, 1984) was the feature-film debut of 33-year-old director Fero Feničo. The film is among those that came into conflict with regime authorities. It tells the story of a young rubber factory worker; its raw, provocative truth-telling nature is reminiscent of the 1960s Czechoslovak New Wave. Though filmed in 1984, it only premiered four years later in 1988. And only a year after that was its director able to realise his second feature-film Zvláštní bytosti (Strange Beings, 1990) – a parable about the fall from grace of a communist functionary. Unlike that latter stylised film, which was the director’s final dramatic feature, Juicy Novel demonstrates the traits of its author’s documentary roots. The protagonist of this tale is country girl Alena Horáková, who, along with friend Jituš, begins working in a rubber factory. Like her more audacious friend, the shy and timid Alena views marriage as the only way to escape the oppressive grind of the worker stereotype. But an encounter with good-looking egotistical sportsman Franta only brings about an unwanted pregnancy. Franta is married and a father-to-be, and so Alena opts for an abortion. Juicy Novel is something of a distant cousin to Miloš Forman’s Lásky jedné plavovlásky (Loves of a Blonde, 1965). But this story of the random encounters of a naive young girl, her travels to the big city, and ultimate disillusionment, also carries the extra component of an abortion. The film benefits from the cinematography of Jaroslav Brabec, who in 1984 also shot a very different story – the Zdeňek Troška costume romance drama Poklad hraběte Chamaré (The Treasure of Count Chamaré, 1984). Nineteen-year-old Alena Mihulová excels in the role of Alena; a year earlier the actress debuted in the Karel Kachyňa tragi-comedy Sestřičky (The Nurses, 1983). Jituš is portrayed by non-professional actress Laura Kurovská, and overdubbed by Zuzana Bydžovská. The film’s authenticity also benefits from Fenič’s decision to cast several other gifted, but lesser-known, actors in various roles.

Synopsis

The village girls Alena and Jitka run for the morning bus which will take them to a rubber factory. It is the first working day for Alena. But both girls are bored by the monotonous machine work. The provocative and tantalizing Jitka does not conceal that she wants to get married as soon as possible and get out of the job. The idea is not foreign to the petite and shy Alena, too. Jitka soon finds herself Vašek who has just returned from military service. At a bodybuilding contest in the town, Vašek introduces the two girls to the attractive sportsman Franta. Alena likes him at first sight. Jitka is getting married and Alena, too, is at her wedding. Franta also shows up. He drinks juice and looks for a girl. He finally asks Alena to go for an evening walk and has no scruples about making love to her on a potato dray, where she loses her gold necklace. Franta pays no further attention to Alena and gets completely drunk. In the morning, Alena takes him to the bus station on a wagon and convinces the bus driver to take him on board. After some time, Alena finds out that she is pregnant. She sets off to Franta's flat in the town. The door is opened by Franta's pregnant wife. Alena has an abortion and returns to work. Jitka is on her maternity leave and is replaced by a shy girl. Alena takes care of her, explains everything to her and then sits down at her own machine.

Film online

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Photos

Cast

Alena Mihulová

dělnice Alena Horáková

Laura Kurovská

dělnice Jitka Sládková zvaná Jituš, Alenina kamarádka

Josef Vaidiš

kulturista Franta Hlošek

Ladislav Balous

Vašek

Iveta Kopecká

kamarádka

Michaela Podešvová

kamarádka

Vladimír Švabík

referent Josef Moučka

Ludmila Baštincová

Alenina matka

Lída Beránková

spolupracovnice

Pavel Klůs

Honza

Štěpánka Machová

Janečková

Jitka Kuchařová

zmalovaná kráska

Drahuše Přibylová

dělnice Jandová

Ingrid Manychová

žena z domácnosti

Jiří Kaňkovský

řidič autobusu Matyska

Miloš Petana

trenér hodu koulí

Pavel Melounek

rozhodčí na lehkoatletických závodech

Vladimír Hotárek

mistr

Daniel Netušil

venkovský mladík

Jan Hejčl

člen hudební skupiny

Pavel Hejčl

člen hudební skupiny

Tomáš Beránek

člen hudební skupiny

Jan Nešetřil

člen hudební skupiny

Marie Nejtrová

žena z vesnice

Marie Citová

Tomáš Kuchta

zaměstnanci podniku Rubena n. p.

Dubbing

Zuzana Bydžovská

hlas Jitky

Roman Skamene

hlas Vaška

Gabriela Wilhelmová

hlas dlouhovlasé dělnice

Crew and creators

Director

Fero Fenič

Second Unit Director

Zuzana Hojdová, Michal Vostřez, Marta Křesinová

Assistant Director

Olga Hrčková

Screenstory

Fero Fenič

Screenplay

Fero Fenič

Shooting Script

Fero Fenič

Script Editor

Sonja Kroupová

Camera

Jaroslav Brabec

Second Unit Photography

Václav Zajíček

Camera Operator

Jiří Zavřel

Production Designer

Ludvík Široký

Set Designer

Vladimír Ježek, Karel Plaňanský, Milan Šilha, Miloslav Dvořák

Costume Designer

Jana Budíková

Costumes

Naděžda Hejnová, Renata Ryšavá, Eva Vlková

Make-Up Artist

Tomáš Kuchta, Šárka Šimůnková

Film Editor

Jiří Brožek

Sound Designer

Adam Kajzar

Production Manager

Jiří Krejčí

Unit Production Manager

Nový Pavel (výroba), Iva Šetková

Unit Production Manager

Adriena Váchová

Cooperation

Věra Flaková, Jaroslav Řeřicha, Jitka Bylinská

Music

Music Composed by

Miki Jelínek

Selected Music

Zdeněk Barták (Drsná planina /hudba k filmu/), Bedřich Smetana (Libuše), Richard Strauss (Tak pravil Zarathustra /Also sprach Zarathustra/), Alexandr Porfirjevič Borodin (Polovecké tance)

Music Performed by

Studiová skupina Mikiho Jelínka

Music Conducted by

Miki Jelínek (Studiová skupina Mikiho Jelínka)

Songs

Paráda, Prostři pro dva stůl, Okno mé lásky, Vlak, co nikde nestaví, Bláznova ukolébavka, Hlupák váhá, Na kytaru kluci v parku hrají, Každý má céčka, Slepička kropenatá, Hej, panímámo, Okolo Hradce, Studentská halenka, Co jste, hasiči, Pohádka mládí, Lásko, bože, lásko, Na Pankráci, na malém vršíčku, Keď som išol cez horu /Ricom picom/, Na tý louce zelený, Malou opičku mám

Songwriter

Karel Zich (Paráda), Karel Svoboda (Prostři pro dva stůl), Petr Janda (Okno mé lásky), Petr Janda (Vlak, co nikde nestaví), Pavel Dydovič (Bláznova ukolébavka), Oldřich Říha (Hlupák váhá), Pavel Skalický (Na kytaru kluci v parku hrají), Zdeněk Barták (Každý má céčka), Karel Valdauf (Slepička kropenatá), Karel Vacek (Hej, panímámo), lidová píseň (Studentská halenka), lidová píseň (Co jste, hasiči), Karel Vacek (Pohádka mládí), lidová píseň (Lásko, bože, lásko), lidová píseň (Na Pankráci, na malém vršíčku), lidová píseň (Keď som išol cez horu /Ricom picom/), lidová píseň (Na tý louce zelený)

Writer of Lyrics

Michal Bukovič (Paráda), Zdeněk Borovec (Prostři pro dva stůl), Zdeněk Rytíř (Okno mé lásky), Miroslav Černý (Vlak, co nikde nestaví), František Řebíček (Bláznova ukolébavka), Ladislav Vostárek (Hlupák váhá), Václav Hons (Na kytaru kluci v parku hrají), Šárka Schmidtová (Každý má céčka), Karel Valdauf (Slepička kropenatá), Karel Vacek (Hej, panímámo), Karel Vacek (Pohádka mládí)

Singer

Karel Zich (Paráda), Karel Gott (Prostři pro dva stůl), Petr Janda (Okno mé lásky), sbor (Vlak, co nikde nestaví), sbor (Bláznova ukolébavka), sbor (Hlupák váhá), skupina Saturn (Na kytaru kluci v parku hrají), mužský hlas (Každý má céčka), sbor (Slepička kropenatá), sbor (Hej, panímámo), sbor (Okolo Hradce), sbor (Studentská halenka), sbor (Co jste, hasiči), sbor (Pohádka mládí), mužský hlas (Lásko, bože, lásko), sbor (Na Pankráci, na malém vršíčku), sbor (Keď som išol cez horu /Ricom picom/), dívčí sbor (Malou opičku mám)