Out of the Past 2023 / Cesta pustým lesem / Czech Republic 1997
A strongly lyrical, quasi-balladic black-and-white piece that acquaints us with fragments of the lives of people from a small village hidden in the depths of the Bohemian Forest. The characters appear to move about in a state of timelessness; their inner solitude, frustrated desires, and the sense that they are condemned to perpetual wandering do not inspire hope that they will find a way out. The visually powerful leitmotif of the sylvan labyrinth, in which paths disappear between the tall trees or beneath a mantle of snow, thus acquires symbolic value. News of the outbreak of World War I at the end of the film only heightens the bleakness of the message conveyed by documentarist Ivan Vojnár in his feature film directorial debut.
Zdena Škapová
84 min / Black & white, DCP
Director Ivan Vojnár
/ Screenplay Ivan Arsenjev, Jiří Soukup
/ Dir. of Photography Jaromír Kačer
/ Music Irena a Vojtěch Havlovi
/ Sound Miroslav Hřebejk
/ Editor Alois Fišárek
/ Art Director Vladimír Labský, Jan Tobola
/ Producer Galina Šustová
/ Production Produkce GAGA
/ Coproduction Česká televize
/ Cast Pavel Landovský, Jana Dolanská, Eliška Sirová, Václav Koubek, Jiří Soukup, Matěj Hádek, Terezka Tobolová, Vojtěch Kristen
/ Contact Produkce GAGA
Ivan Vojnár (1942, Žilina, Slovakia). Selected filmography: Dream about Pierrot (1988, doc.), Confusion 68 (1990, doc.), The Path (1992, doc.), Insomnia (1993, doc.), In the Garden (1995, doc.), The Way Through the Bleak Woods (1997), Forest Walkers (2003), Reminiscences (2006, doc.), Cinematherapy (2010, doc.).
Produkce GAGA
Botičská 132/12, 128 00, Praha 2
Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Ivan Vojnár
Film Director
Galina Šustová
Producer
Jaromír Kačer
Director of Photography
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