| Director: | Tomáš Hejtmánek |
| Premiere: | 9. September 2004 |
| Length: | 71 minutes |
| Genre: | Drama, Životopisný |
Director: Tomáš Hejtmánek • Scenario: Tomáš Hejtmánek, Jiří Soukup • Kameraman: Diviš Marek, Jaromír Kačer • Actors: Jiří Kodet, Emma Černá, Jan Kačer, František Velecký, Ivan Palúch
A film essay inspired by the intimate relationship of Tomáš Hejtmánek with the director František Vlácil, a legend of the Czech cinematography.
Hejtmánek's original intention was to capture a meeting, to follow the path of Vlácil's films, to recollect the memories of people who collaborated with Vlácil; an interview with the director was meant to form the film's foundations. However, the death of Vlácil changed the original plan. The words, interviews and original work remained. The profile had to be changed completely, at the same time however, it was to maintain the same kind of movement, its internal structure and a mutual dependence.
The documentary is a fusion of reminiscence, feature film and a documentary. It is also a multiple citation honoring thinking, feeling and the creative process. The actor Jirí Kodet portrays Vlácil in the film. In fact, Kodet represents the director throughout the whole piece, with the only deviation being a different face, not a difference in the language. The documentary uses Vlácil's language of film. The homage is an emulation, a perfect combination of original footage with sequences from Vlácil's works. No biography or a profile, but an autobiography through an interview, a continuation of the original confession.
What makes this film original is the attempt to make the transfer and the fundamental transgression of the framework of a mere profile as a biographical note. The film's goal is not to find out... The audience has to know beforehand, they have to enter the film knowing the work of Vlácil, the layers of images and sound traces. They should be familiar with the life of the director: in order to become stronger by seeing the film, the audience has to be aware of the presence of certain elements, of the rate and the manner in which they are used and connected with other elements which absorb them and limit them, and of the unique features the given style uses from this heritage.
The other way of seeing this film is through complete disengagement from the genius of František Vlácil, through the separation of the subject matter from the movement, the separation of the meaning from a specific voice, by turning around and achieving a perfect separation from the body of life and the body of his work, by stepping back from anatomy and by seeing the film in its entirety as a confession of an artist at the end of his life. And also as an interview of a teacher with his student conducted in a field of images. This is also an option, another way to achieve the full experience.
>ji-hlava.com
Length: 71 min
Year: 2003
Local premiere date: 9. September 2004
Country of origin:
Language version:
Director: Tomáš Hejtmánek • Scenario: Tomáš Hejtmánek, Jiří Soukup • Kameraman: Diviš Marek, Jaromír Kačer • Actors: Jiří Kodet, Emma Černá, Jan Kačer, František Velecký, Ivan Palúch
A film essay inspired by the intimate relationship of Tomáš Hejtmánek with the director František Vlácil, a legend of the Czech cinematography.
Hejtmánek's original intention was to capture a meeting, to follow the path of Vlácil's films, to recollect the memories of people who collaborated with Vlácil; an interview with the director was meant to form the film's foundations. However, the death of Vlácil changed the original plan. The words, interviews and original work remained. The profile had to be changed completely, at the same time however, it was to maintain the same kind of movement, its internal structure and a mutual dependence.
The documentary is a fusion of reminiscence, feature film and a documentary. It is also a multiple citation honoring thinking, feeling and the creative process. The actor Jirí Kodet portrays Vlácil in the film. In fact, Kodet represents the director throughout the whole piece, with the only deviation being a different face, not a difference in the language. The documentary uses Vlácil's language of film. The homage is an emulation, a perfect combination of original footage with sequences from Vlácil's works. No biography or a profile, but an autobiography through an interview, a continuation of the original confession.
What makes this film original is the attempt to make the transfer and the fundamental transgression of the framework of a mere profile as a biographical note. The film's goal is not to find out... The audience has to know beforehand, they have to enter the film knowing the work of Vlácil, the layers of images and sound traces. They should be familiar with the life of the director: in order to become stronger by seeing the film, the audience has to be aware of the presence of certain elements, of the rate and the manner in which they are used and connected with other elements which absorb them and limit them, and of the unique features the given style uses from this heritage.
The other way of seeing this film is through complete disengagement from the genius of František Vlácil, through the separation of the subject matter from the movement, the separation of the meaning from a specific voice, by turning around and achieving a perfect separation from the body of life and the body of his work, by stepping back from anatomy and by seeing the film in its entirety as a confession of an artist at the end of his life. And also as an interview of a teacher with his student conducted in a field of images. This is also an option, another way to achieve the full experience.
>ji-hlava.com
Year: 2003
Local premiere date: 9. September 2004
Country of origin:
Language version:
