The Shadow of a Fern
Typology
featureCzech title
Stín kapradinyRuntime
90Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1984Production year
1984Premiere
01.01.1986Language version
CzechDirector
František VláčilSummary
Directed by František Vláčil, this 1984 film, adapted from a novel by Josef Čapek, was written by Vladimír Körner. The highly experienced director planned for a number of years to make an adaptation of this story, but only realised his dream at the end of his filmmaking career. Along with cinematographer František Uldrich, Vláčil brings to life a concept in which the main characters’ stories are interwoven with the shots of the natural world, which form an integral part of the overall narrative. The main protagonists of Stín kapradiny (The Shadow of a Fern, 1984) are two poachers, Ruda Aksamit and Vašek Kala, on the run from the law after one of them shot and killed a gamekeeper. They end up wandering aimlessly through the woods, becoming increasingly alienated from each other, and causing more irreparable damage… Director Vláčil casts two Polish actors in the main roles: Marek Probosz and Zbigniew Suszynski. Miroslav Macháček appears as the gamekeeper.
Synopsis
The eighteen-year old Ruda Aksamit works in a travertine quarry. The only thing that interests and controls him is his passion for poaching. He goes to the forest armed with a sawn-off shotgun. He is often accompanied by his friend Vaek Kala who prefers to lay poacher's snares. One day, Ruda shoots a roe-deer. As soon as he attempts to finish it off with a hunting knife, he is disturbed by a gamekeeper. Ruda shoots the forest caretaker dead in no time in an ambush. The two friends hide the body under some stones and run away. On the way, they run into an old married couple - the Čepelkas - the undesired witnesses of their presence in the forest. The two young men know that they must disappear from the village. Ruda only keeps the gun which he took from the dead gamekeeper. Vaek is tortured by the idea of the dead man's funeral. They only partially succeed in avoiding people during their escape. They steal money, clothes and a revolver from an abandoned mill. They jump on a goods train on their further way. Ruda sitting together with Vaek gets drunk in a pub at a small railway station and brags about his sexual experience with a Prague prostitute called Valérie. Vaek apparently has no experience with women yet. A gendarme gets on the bus by which they travel next, and the two runaways thus feel they had better get off at the first stop. They can sense that the man of law has noticed them. They run through a forest and meet a man resembling the gamekeeper. Vaek is exhausted by coughing and feverish dreams. Ruda wants to abandon him unscrupulously, but Vaek eventually goes on using the last of his strength. The two are spotted in a cave by a girl from a scout group. A young dressmaker called Rousová goes through the forest, taking a wedding dress to a customer from the neighbouring village. She meets the gendarme Marjánka who is courting her, but the girl turns down his offer of marriage. The runaways lie in wait for the young dressmaker and try to violate her - fortunately without success. Vaek gets scratches on his face during the fight. The dressmaker is saved by the girl scouts who overheard her call for help. Ruda and Vaek get drunk in a railway workers' shed. Vaek, buying alcohol, meets a beggar - yet another man with the gamekeeper's face. When they sing, drunk, they are found by the gendarme Marjánka and Ruda shoots him dead. The rather sensitive Vaek cannot understand Ruda's brutality. The two boys glimpse a white deer but find themselves unable to kill it. They are surrounded in a potato field and become the targets of many bullets. Ruda shoots one of the men dead but then dies himself. Vaek watches over his body all night. In the morning, he kills himself with Ruda's gun before the gendarmers can get to him.
Film online
Photos
Cast
Marek Probosz
Rudolf Aksamit
Zbigniew Suszyński
Václav Kala
Miroslav Macháček
hajný/vagabund/žebrák
František Peterka
otec Aksamit
Vladimír Hlavatý
dědek Čepelka
Milada Ježková
Čepelkova manželka
Josef Patočka
Elsner/dab
Oldřich Velen
nadstrážmistr
Jaroslav Tomsa
strážmistr
Marta Vančurová
švadlena Rousová
Emma Černá
hajná
Jana Švandová
sklepnice/Valérie
Jiří Schmitzer
hospodář
Zdeňka Sajfertová
mladá žena
Petr Skarke
četník Marjánka
Vítězslav Jandák
četník
Arnošt Böhm
četník
Josef Pechanec
četník
František Stupka
četník
Jaroslav Špáňa
četník
Karel Vávrovec
četník
Jaroslav Vlk
četník
Soňa Novotná
výčepní Růženka
Karel Smrž
harmonikář
Dobroslav Čech
hostinský
Bohumil Vávra
farář
Zdeněk Podhůrský
výletník ve sportovním voze
Jitka Asterová
dáma na výletě
Martina Gasparovičová
dáma na výletě
Vlastimil Drbal
hospodářův syn Vašek
Karel Bělohradský
řidič autobusu Ipštenský
Josef Blahož
muzikant
Josef Čermák (2)
muzikant
Jan Forejt
muzikant
Josef Fürst
muzikant
Josef Kasl
muzikant
Zdeněk Kesler
muzikant
Jan Kopecký
muzikant
Antonín Korb
muzikant
Jaroslav Materna
muzikant
Jiří Miloš
muzikant
Vojtěch Říha
muzikant
Jaroslav Šprunk
muzikant
František Trnka
muzikant
František Zikán
muzikant
Ladislav Vacek
kapelník
Slávka Hamouzová
stará žena v autobuse
Vlastimila Vlková
venkovská žena
Dubbing
Michal Pavlata
hlas Rudolfa
Jiří Prager
hlas Václava
Crew and creators
Director
Second Unit Director
Assistant Director
Ondřej Balík, Eliška Vojtová
Based on
Josef Čapek (Stín kapradiny – novela)
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Script Editor
Camera
Second Unit Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Set Designer
Vladimír Ježek, Josef Večerek, Miloslav Dvořák
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Sound Designer
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Bohumil Vlach, Benešová Jarmila (2)
Unit Production Manager
Eva Kulhánková
Consultant
Josef Vítovec
Cooperation
Barbora Bílková, Magda Hájková, Roman Květoň, Miroslav Jirsa
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
Miroslav Kejmar (/sólo na křídlovku/), FISYO
Music Conducted by
Štěpán Koníček (FISYO)
Songs
Spadl lístek z javora
Songwriter
lidová píseň (Spadl lístek z javora)
Singer
Marek Probosz [dab] (Spadl lístek z javora), Michal Pavlata (Spadl lístek z javora), Zbigniew Suszyński [dab] (Spadl lístek z javora), Jiří Prager (Spadl lístek z javora)
Production info
Original Title
Stín kapradiny
English Title
The Shadow of a Fern
Copyright
1984
Production Year
1984
Premiere
01.01.1986
Production
Copyright Holders
Distribution
Creative Group
Technical info
Format
Betacam, DVD
Versions
Czech
Awards
Vítěz
Festival: 24. festival českých a slovenských filmů Mariánské Lázně
1986
Mariánské Lázně / Czechoslovakia
Jiří X. Svoboda