Out of the Past 2024 / Vražda ing. Čerta / Czechoslovakia 1970
A mannerist play about the battle of the sexes – this film has been defined in a variety of ways, yet this description seems to be the most apposite. All the action centres on two characters: She is ostensibly the victim of her desire for nuptials, and He, her suitor, callously exploits this fact. The inequality of their relationship is sumptuously demonstrated by a repeated model situation, in which the woman prepares a lavish dinner with great care, while the man voraciously shovels it down. That his name is Mr. Devil and that he has certain associations with hell doesn’t play a role in this parable merely in order to add a fantasque flavour to the proceedings. With an air of mischief and with sophistication, the director illustrates that it doesn’t always pay to decide too quickly who’s the one wielding the power.
Zdena Škapová
72 min / Color, DCP
Director Ester Krumbachová
/ Screenplay Ester Krumbachová, Jan Němec
/ Dir. of Photography Jiří Macák
/ Music Angelo Michajlov
/ Sound František Fabián
/ Editor Miroslav Hájek
/ Art Director Boris Moravec
/ Production Filmové studio Barrandov
/ Cast Jiřina Bohdalová, Vladimír Menšík, Helena Růžičková, Ljuba Hermanová, Jana Hana Duffková
/ Sales Národní filmový archiv
Ester Krumbachová (1923, Brno – 1996 Prague). Selected filmography: As director: Murdering the Devil (1970). As co-writer: Daisies (1966), The Party and the Guests (1966), Fruit of Paradise (1969), Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun (1983).
Národní filmový archiv
Závišova 5, 140 00, Praha 4
Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Jiřina Bohdalová
Actress
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