A wild and provocative postmodern phantasmagory about love beyond the grave in a tale of romance between a decadent prince and the daughter of a disgraced officer. Made by the legendary Jan Němec after his return from exile, the film surprised many when it came out, and it continues to provoke audiences with its playful impudence and, by the standards of the day, its incomprehensibility.
In late 1990, several months after returning to a free Czechoslovakia after fifteen years in exile, Jan Němec began filming his adaptation of the absurdist novella The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch by the nonconformist philosopher Ladislav Klíma. At the time of its making, Němec’s wild and provocative postmodern phantasmagory about a decadent prince and his fated love for a mysterious commoner surprised many. Today the picture continues to provoke audiences with its playful impudence and, by the standards of the day, its incomprehensibility. This peculiar cinematic hallucination, featuring unforgettable creative input from artist Michael Rittstein, stars Jiří Bartoška, Ivana Chýlková, Boleslav Polívka, and musician Vilém Čok as the king.
Karel Och
87 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Jan Němec
/ Screenplay Jan Němec podle románu Utrpení knížete Sternenhocha Ladislava Klímy / based on the novel The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch by Ladislav Klíma
/ Dir. of Photography Jiří Macháně
/ Music Jan Hammer ml.
/ Editor Alois Fišárek
/ Art Director Michael Rittstein
/ Producer Miloš Stejskal, Roman Bartoníček
/ Production Filmové studio Barrandov
/ Cast Ivana Chýlková, Vilém Čok, Boleslav Polívka, Jiří Bartoška, Josef Abrhám, Pavel Landovský, Miloš Stránský, Izabela Schenková
/ Sales Národní filmový archiv
Jan Němec (1936-2016, Prague). Selected filmography: Diamonds of the Night (1964), Pearls of the Deep (1965), The Party and the Guests (1966), Martyrs of Love (1966), The Flames of Royal Love (1990), Code Name: Ruby (1996), Late Night Talks with Mother (2001), Landscape of My Heart (2004), Toyen (2005), The Ferrari Dino Girl (2009), The Wolf from Royal Vineyard Street (2016)
Národní filmový archiv
Závišova 5, 140 00, Praha 4
Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Tomáš Žůrek
Distributor, Sales Agent
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