The Chintamani Carpet and Birds

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1964

Production year

1964

Runtime

57 min

Category

povídka

Genre

short-story

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Čintamani a ptáci

Czech title

Čintamani a ptáci

English title

The Chintamani Carpet and Birds

Synopsis

A passionate carpet collector, Doctor Vitásek, discovers a unique piece in the second hand shop of Mrs Severýnová - a Persian carpet with a pattern of birds. A connoisseur himself, he is aware that there are only three of these carpets and all of them are in the hands of various monarchs. Severýnová has no idea what a precious item she holds. The carpet, however, is not for sale - it was deposited in the shop by the wealthy widow Zanelliová, who travels all around the world and visits Prague only rarely. Vitásek opens his heart to his friend, lawyer Bimbal, and tries to gain the precious piece with his help. The widow refuses to sell them the carpet, and the desperate Vitásek thus attempts to steal it. But the thief they engage for the work - Bimbal's client - gets drunk and is caught through all the noise he makes. The relentless Vitásek learns to file through the bars himself.

Crew and creators

Based on

Karel Čapek (Čintamani a ptáci – povídka ze sbírky Povídky z druhé kapsy)

Production info

Original Title

Čintamani a ptáci

Czech Title

Čintamani a ptáci

English Title

The Chintamani Carpet and Birds

Category

povídka

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

short-story

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1964

Production Year

1964

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 5 April 1963
start of filming 26 October 1964
end of filming 23 November 1964

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

57 min

Original length in metres

1 619 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,66

Colour

black & white

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech, English

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech