The Mystery of a Puzzle

Country

Czech Republic

Copyright

1993

Production year

1992

Premiere

13 May 1993

Runtime

97 min

Director

Petr Kotek

Category

film

Genre

adventure

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionlong

Original title

Záhada hlavolamu

Czech title

Záhada hlavolamu

English title

The Mystery of a Puzzle

Summary

Petr Kotek makes his début as a director of this film an adventurous story of The Fast Arrows – the gang of five boys – who live in one non-specified town sometime in the thirties.

Synopsis

In the Shadow Town, the oldest part of the city, boys call themselves Vonts and keep the rules of their organization secret from the boys from other districts. The gang's history is linked with a mysterious puzzle – the spike in a cage. In the district called The Other Side, five friends meet regularly in the club of the group the Quick Arrows. It is Mirek Dušín, Jarka Metelka and Jindra Hojer and two boys nicknamed Red Cap and Quick Leg. They want to introduce the readers of their magazine, called Tom-Tom, to the history of the puzzle. But the Cat Paw Brotherhood with its own magazine Collector is faster. Its members – Long Pole, Bristle and Bohouš – also similarly succeed in the next issue, mysteriously learning about and publishing a story of the orphan Jan Tleskač, a locksmith's apprentice, who tragically died years ago, falling from the bell tower of the St James church. Its old sexton told the Quick Arrows about him. The five boys secretly infiltrate the Shadow Town where preparations for the election of the Big Vont are being held. Both the candidates – Losna and Mažňák – try to get voters. The Quick Arrows find Tleskač's diary and thus learn about an invention whose plan was hidden by the talented boy in the spike inserted in the cage. The boys almost separate in fear that a traitor is among them, but then they fortunately discover a device by which the Brotherhood was bugging them. The boys find out from a part of the diary that Tleskač was threatened by the locksmith's master, named Em, who wanted to get hold of his ingenious invention – a flying bicycle. The Quick Arrows help the upright and noble Losna win over the malicious Mažňák in the elections. They show Losna how to remove the spike – the talisman of the Vont organization – from the cage after Tleskač's description in the diary. But the deceitful Em – Mažňák's father, who murdered his apprentice Tleskač years ago – seizes the puzzle and loses it in a gutter where he falls during his escape. The locksmith subsequently dies of an infection caused by the mud. The discovery of the flying bicycle is lost for ever.

Cast

Ondřej Hošt

Mirek Dušín, člen klubu Rychlé šípy

Martin Voldřich

Jarka Metelka, člen klubu Rychlé šípy

David Diviš

Jindra Hojer, člen klubu Rychlé šípy

Martin Vlasák

Rychlonožka, člen klubu Rychlé šípy

Jaroslav Richter

Červenáček, člen klubu Rychlé šípy

Karel Zima

Dlouhé Bidlo, člen Bratrstva Kočičí pracky

Jaromír Křížek

Bohouš, člen Bratrstva Kočičí pracky

Josef Dufek

Štětináč, člen Bratrstva Kočičí pracky

Matěj Hádek

Otakar Losna, kandidát na Velkého Vonta

Jan Kehár

Štěpán Mažňák, kandidát na Velkého Vonta

Filip Jančík

Velký Vont

Michal Škrabal

Voice by Jan Poledník
zámečnický učeň Jan Tleskač

Karel Engel

zámečnický mistr Mažňák zvaný Em, Štěpánův otec

Marek Jankovič

člen vontské rady

Rudolf Krejčí

člen vontské rady

Jiří Lautner

člen vontské rady

Radek Lunga

člen vontské rady

Jindřich Rohlík

člen vontské rady

Jan Štědrovský

člen vontské rady

Daniel Wagenknecht

člen vontské rady

Magdalena Kovářová

Tonča Sedlářová

Commentary

Dubbing

Vít Ondračka

hlas chlapce v šedivé čepici

Martin Šotola

hlas chlapce

Václav Kubr

hlas chlapce

Martin Písařík

hlas chlapce

Crew and creators

Director

Petr Kotek

Second Unit Director

Olga Kubištová, Petr Erben

Based on

Jaroslav Foglar (Záhada hlavolamu – román)

Shooting Script

Petr Kotek

Dramaturg

Jiří Soukup

Director of Photography

Miro Gábor

Second Unit Photography

Ivan Šimůnek

Camera Operator

Jiří Pechar (steadicam), Josef Černušák (služba u kamery), Radek Faltejsek (služba u kamery)

Production Designer

Michal Krška

Assistent Production Designer

Vladimír Heiser

Set Designer

M+M, Milan Šveňha (vedoucí výpravy), Josef Calta (rekvizitář), Jaroslav Lehman (rekvizitář), Milan Šefrna (rekvizitář)

Costume Designer

Martin Kurel

Costumes

Zuzana Máchová (vedoucí kostymérka), Mária Hubáčková, Marta Jenčová

Film Editor

Michal Cingroš

Assistant Film Editor

Monika Marková, Renata Pařezová

Assistant Sound Designer

Miloslav Vojslavský

Special Effects

Trilobit AB Barrandov

Producer

Jan Šuster (AB Barrandov)

Co-producer

Petr Kotek

Production Manager

Pavel Nový

Production Supervisor

Michaela Antošíková, Pavel Bačkovský, Rudolf Vachuda

Consultant

Jaroslav Tomsa

Cooperation

Jiří Cuřín (vrchní osvětlovač), Jan Jindra (fotograf), Zdeněk Čermák, Bohumil Havlíček, Jiří Horych, Petr Polesný, Miroslav Vaverka, Automobilová a.s. Škoda Mladá Boleslav, Agentura GGK Praha

Music

Music Composed by

Petr Malásek

Music Performed by

AB Barrandov – FHS Produkce (Music Conducted by Mario Klemens)

Music Supervisor

Juraj Ďurovič

Production info

Original Title

Záhada hlavolamu

Czech Title

Záhada hlavolamu

English Title

The Mystery of a Puzzle

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

adventure

Origin country

Czech Republic

Copyright

1993

Production Year

1992

Production specifications

the end of the distribution monopoly 12 May 1998

Premiere

gala premiere 12 May 1993 (kino 64 U Hradeb, Praha)
distribution premiere 13 May 1993 /suitable for youths/

Distribution slogan

The Fast Arrows are here again.

Production

AB Barrandov Filmová produkce, Producentské centrum Jana Šustera (AB Barrandov Filmová produkce), Ministerstvo kultury České republiky (koprodukce), Lucernafilm (koprodukce), Petr Kotek (koprodukce)

Copyright Holders

AB Barrandov, a. s.

Technical info

Duration typology

feature film

Duration in minutes

97 min

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

Dolby Stereo

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 12. mezinárodní filmový festival Carrousel Rimouski

1994
Rimouski / Canada

Nominace

Event: 1. Český lev za rok 1993

1994
Praha / Czech Republic
Miro Gábor

Vítěz

Exhibition: 25. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti a 1. přehlídka televizní tvorby pro děti Ostrov

1993
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czech Republic
Michal Škrabal

Vítěz

Exhibition: 25. národní přehlídka filmů pro děti a 1. přehlídka televizní tvorby pro děti Ostrov

1993
Ostrov nad Ohří / Czech Republic