Honey Price

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1986

Production year

1986

Premiere

1 November 1987

Runtime

76 min

Category

film

Genre

drama

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Cena medu

Czech title

Cena medu

English title

Honey Price

Working title

Rojení

Summary

Director Jaromír Borek capped off a career of more than 20 years with the story of a five-year-old boy allergic to bee stings. General practitioner Vrba has his own method for dealing with such cases – a blood transfusion directly from a beekeeper who has experienced many bee stings over the years. But tracking down such a donor for the heavily traumatised youngster is no easy feat. The police service thus joins forces with doctors to help save the child’s life... The drama chiefly plays out in a hospital. It is based on a true story, which occurred in the former East Germany. The tense script, written by Pavel Hajný, also showcases the talents of actor Oldřich Vlach, largely known to audiences through his television roles. This 1986 movie features Vlach as a physician battling to save five-year-old Péťu.

Synopsis

The little Péa is at his grandfather's in the Giant Mountains. He is waiting for his parents and is looking forward to spending the holidays with them. The grandfather's bees swarm. The swarm finally settles in a tree. Péa bumps into the tree and the entire swarm pounces on his head. The boy is taken to hospital. He is in a deep coma and in danger of dying. Ordinary treatment cannot cope with so many stings in the small child's body. The duty nurse calls doctor Vrba at home for he has his specific method for such cases: a blood transfusion from a bee-keeper. Péa's grandfather immediately offers himself but he has a different blood group. The hospital issues a list of all bee-keepers in the district and visits them in an ambulance. Even the police is involved. Finally, they manage to get the right blood for Péa and it seems that the battle is won. But the dose is insufficient and searching for an appropriate blood donor must start again. Fortunately for Péa, there are people who help without delay. One of them is a German customs officer, who is driven to the hospital by Czech tourists. After several transfusions, the medical student Monika notices that the boy moved. That is a sign of improvement and hope. Morning arrives and the sun comes up after the dark night.

Note

Petr Hajný wrote the script after a real accident. It occurred in Greifswald in the German Democratic Republic in 1984 where MD Weisbitzski saved the life of a fiveyear old boy who suffered aproximately five hundred bee stings.

Film online

Cast

Oldřich Vlach

MUDr. Vrba

Petr Pospíchal

MUDr. Kavan

Jiří Vondráček

Péťův otec

Marta Hrachovinová

Hanka, Péťova matka

Miroslav Zounar

MUDr. Malina

Hana Vávrová

medička Monika

Daniela Šrajerová

staniční sestra Jiřina

Jiří Němeček

Péťův dědeček

Bronislav Poloczek

nadpraporčík VB Poláček

Petr Lepša

nadstrážmistr VB

Zdeněk David

strážmistr VB

Luboš Veselý

saniťák Kája

Dana Horčicová

denní sestra

Zdeňka Sajfertová

denní sestra

Miroslav Středa

celník Janda

Libuše Štědrá

Vrbova žena

MUDr. Ivana Němečková

MUDr. Němcová

Zuzana Skalická

dispečerka Míla

Václav Sloup

včelař Ladislav Novotný

Karel Koloušek

průvodčí ČSD

Vlastimil Hašek

včelař Jan Husárek

Ladislav Trojan

včelař Lojza

Míla Myslíková

manželka Lojzy

Václav Helšus

malíř pokojů Vala

Jan Kotva

celník

Igor Smržík

německý celník Rolf

Jana Altmannová

vesnická teta

Jan Novotný

dárce krve

Miriam Brochová

noční sestra

Eva Salzmannová

noční sestra

Eva Asterová

architektka Kateřina

Jindřich Bonaventura

včelařský funkcionář Fanda

Blanka Blahníková

poštovní úřednice

Karel Greif

štamgast

Pavel Jiras

majitel vesnického stavení

Jaroslav Vlach

Ing. Kopečný

Dana Baslerová

Voice by Jana Drbohlavová
Marie Kopečná

Petr Loužecký

syn Kopečných

Jan Vedral

syn Kopečných

Václav Neužil

otec MUDr. Vrby

Miroslav Nohýnek

lékař z Prahy

Jan Kraus

saniťák

Regina Zahradníková

dívka v hotelu

Jiří Ouhleda

řidič Tatry 613

Alena Rindlerová

teta na svatbě

Radim Vašinka

ochotnický herec – mlynář v Lucerně

P. Beneš

herec

J. Gogela

herec

Irena Hýsková

herečka

K. Pavelková

herečka

Radovan Versigan

herec

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Petr Koliha

Assistant Director

René Slauka

Screenstory

Pavel Hajný

Screenplay

Pavel Hajný

Shooting Script

Jaromír Borek

Director of Photography

Martin Benoni

Second Unit Photography

Lubomír Moravec

Camera Operator

Antonín Mařík

Production Designer

Ludvík Široký

Assistent Production Designer

Jaroslav Řeřicha

Set Designer

Jiří Forst, Jan Hodný, Karel Plaňanský, Milan Šilha

Costume Designer

Dimitrij Kadrnožka

Assistant Film Editor

Květa Švábová

Sound Designer

Tomáš Potůček

Production Manager

Jiří Zika

Unit Production Manager

Olga Zelenská, Antonín Pražský

Unit Production Manager

Drahomíra Čížková

Consultant

MUDr. Ivana Němečková

Cooperation

Lenka Křivánková (klapka), Miroslav Jirsa (fotograf)

Music

Music Composed by

Milan Dvořák

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by Mario Klemens)

Songs

Rovnou

Song Composer The Wilburn Brothers
Writer of Lyrics Jan Vyčítal

Production info

Original Title

Cena medu

Czech Title

Cena medu

English Title

Honey Price

Working Title

Rojení

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

drama

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1986

Production Year

1986

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 31 January 1986
start of filming 6 May 1986
technical Screenplay approved 22 May 1986
end of filming 12 December 1986
projection approval 5 January 1987

Premiere

premiere 1 November 1987 /suitable for youths/

Creative Group

2. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Josef Císař (vedoucí 2. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

76 min

Original length in metres

2 161 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