Bohemian Rapture Explained

Bohemian Rapture
Director:	Václav Krška
Cinematography:	Ferdinand Pečenka
Editing:	Jan Kohout
Studio:	Československá filmová společnost
Distributor:	Státní půjčovna filmů
Runtime:	104 minutes
Country:	Czechoslovakia

Bohemian Rapture or The Violin and the Dream (Czech: '''Housle a sen''') is a 1947 Czech historical drama film directed by Václav Krška and starring Jaromír Spal, Václav Voska and Karel Dostal. The film portrays the life of the Czech violinist Josef Slavík, a contemporary of Frédéric Chopin, and a rival of Niccolò Paganini.^[1]

Cast

• Jaromír Spal as Josef Slavík
• Václav Voska as Frédéric Chopin
• Karel Dostal as Nicolo Paganini
• Vlasta Fabianová as Anna Zásmucká
• Libuše Zemková as Henrietta Astfeldová
• Jiřina Krejčová as Magdalenka
• Marie Vášová as The Unknown Woman
• Eduard Kohout as Count Pavel Adam Lažanský,
• Vladimír Řepa as Teacher W. W. Würfel
• František Smolík as Father Quardián
• Jarmila Švabíková as Constance Bayerová
• Jiří Steimar as Baron Astfeld
• Jan W. Speerger as Thug
• Zvonimir Rogoz as Conductor
• Karel Kalista as General Kučera

Release

The film premiered on 31 January 1947. In 1948 the film was released in the United States by the USSR distributor Artkino. This release is sometimes treated as a separate film, but is simply an English-subtitled version of the Czech original. The New York Times review of the film was negative, criticising it as "an unusual but decidedly confusing and unrewarding offering" and attacking in particular its use of disjointed flashback sequences.^[2]

Bibliography

• The Most Important Art: Eastern European Film After 1945. University of California Press, 1977.

Notes and References

1. Book: Liehm. Mira . Liehm . Antonín J. . The Most Important Art: Eastern European Film After 1945 . University of California Press . 1977 . 97.
2. News: Movie Reviews. The New York Times. 30 July 2021.