Karel Kachyňa Explained

Karel Kachyňa
Birth Date:1 May 1924
Birth Place:Vyškov, Czechoslovakia
Death Place:Prague, Czech Republic
Alma Mater:Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
Spouse:
    Occupation:Film director, Screenwriter
    Yearsactive:1950–2003

    Karel Kachyňa (1 May 1924 – 12 March 2004) was a Czech film director and screenwriter. His career spanned over five decades.

    Early life

    He was born on May 1, 1924, in Vyškov,[1] Czechoslovakia. His father was a government officer. His mother was an art teacher. After spending first 4 years of his life in Vyškov, he moved with his family to Dačice and then Kroměříž. Kachyňa studied at Baťa School of Art in Zlín. During the WWII he was forced to work in a German factory Walter Georgi in Bernsbach.[2] After the war he was able to finish high school and work on commercials at the Baťa film studios in Zlín. Kachyňa was then accepted at newly founded Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) to study cinematography and directing. His fellow students were Vojtěch Jasný, Zdeněk Podskalský and Antonín Kachlík.

    Career

    After the graduation he directed socialist realist propaganda documentaries with Jasný. Throughout the 1950s they both worked for the Czechoslovak Army Film. In the 1952 they traveled to China with Art Ensemble of the Czechoslovak People's Army and made three documentaries about the country.

    Kachyňa made his most celebrated movies with a screenwriter Jan Procházka in relatively free period in the 1960s.[3]

    After the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and in subsequent Normalization period, his politically critical movies Long Live the Republic!, Coach to Vienna, The Nun's Night and The Ear were banned.[4] Kachyňa was fired from his teaching job at FAMU, after the film Uninvited Guest by his student Vlastimil Venclík was interpreted as being a criticism of the Soviet Invasion.[5] From the 1970s he directed mostly historical movies focused on the lives of regular people, and children movies. After the Velvet Revolution he was re-hired at FAMU and continued to teach there until his retirement.

    Personal life

    Kachyňa was married twice. He had one daughter, Eliška, with his first wife Eliška Kuchařová. He met his second wife Alena Mihulová during the filming of Sestřičky in 1983. Their daughter, Karolína, was born in 1994. He lived in the 16th century house in Nový svět neighbourhood near Czernin Palace at Hradčany, Prague.[6]

    Filmography

    Feature films

    Year Name Notes
    1954 Everything Ends Tonight
    1955 The Lost Track
    1958At That Time, at Christmas...
    1959Smugglers of Death
    1960The Slinger
    1961Fetters Entered in 2nd Moscow International Film Festival.[7]
    1961Trials and Tribulations Special Jury Prize at 1962 Mar del Plata Film Festival[8]
    1962Vertigo
    1963Hope Best director at 1964 Mar del Plata Film Festival[9]
    1964 The High Wall Silver Sail at 1964 Locarno Film Festival[10]
    1965 Long Live the Republic! Best film at 1966 Mar del Plata Film Festival[11]
    FIPRESCI prize at 1966 San Sebastián Film Festival[12]
    1966 Coach to Vienna 3rd prize at 1966 Karlovy Vary Film Festival
    1967 The Nun's Night Official selection of 28th Venice International Film Festival
    1968 Christmas with Elizabeth
    1968 Our Crazy Family Kachyňa finished the film after its director Jan Valášek died
    1969 A Ridiculous Gentleman
    1970 Jumping over Puddles Again Silver Shell at 1971 San Sebastián International Film Festival[13]
    1970 The Ear Released in 1990.
    Official selection of 1990 Cannes Film Festival[14]
    1971 The Secret of the Great Story-Teller
    1972 The Train to the Heaven Station
    1973 Love
    1973 Hot Winter
    1974 Pauline
    1974 The Girl Robinson
    1975 The Ugly Village
    1976 The Little Mermaid
    1976 Death of a Fly
    1978 Waiting for the Rain
    1978 Meeting in July
    1980 Love Between the Raindrops
    1980 The Little Sugar House
    1981 Watch Out, the Doctor Is on His Round!
    1983 Fandy, oh Fandy!
    1983 The Nurses
    1985 A Good Light
    1986 Forbidden Dreams Entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival.[15]
    1987 ...And What Now, Gentlemen?
    1988 To the Knowledge of Your Beloved
    1989 Young Girls, Crazy Guys
    1990 The Last Butterfly Vienna Film Award at 1990 Vienna International Film Festival
    1992 The Cow
    1995 Fany
    1999 Hanele

    Television

    Documentaries

    Bibliography

    Notes and References

    1. Book: 501 Movie Directors. Steven Jay. Schneider. Cassell Illustrated. London. 2007. 276. 9781844035731. 1347156402.
    2. Web site: Bergan . Ronald . Obituary: Karel Kachyna . The Guardian . 10 October 2021 . 17 April 2004.
    3. Book: Matušková . Magdaléna . Murguía . Salvador Jimenez . O'Reilly . Sean . McMenamin . Amanda . A Cuban Cinema Companion . 15 January 2020 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-5381-0774-4 . 165 . 10 October 2021 . en.
    4. Web site: Laudin . Radek . Před půlstoletím vznikla Noc nevěsty, hvězdní herci byli 20 let v trezoru . iDNES . Mladá fronta . 10 October 2021 . 11 August 2017.
    5. Jachnin . Boris . Karel Kachyňa: Four Decades of a Great Czech Director . Kinema . 1995 . Fall 1995 . 10.15353/kinema.vi.765 . 10 October 2021. free .
    6. Web site: Dolejšová . Kristýna . Bydliště umělců, roubenka nebo domeček bez dveří. Nový Svět skrývá zajímavou podívanou . Český rozhlas Vltava . Český rozhlas . 10 October 2021 . Czech . 20 September 2018.
    7. Web site: 2nd Moscow International Film Festival (1961) . MIFF . 18 November 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130116210653/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1961 . 16 January 2013 .
    8. Web site: Trials and Tribulations (1961) . Filmový přehled . NFA . 10 October 2021.
    9. Web site: Hope (1963) – Filmový přehled . Filmový přehled . NFA . 10 October 2021 . en.
    10. Web site: 1964 / Locarno Film Festival . Locarno Film Festival . 10 October 2021.
    11. Web site: Long Live the Republic! (1965) – Filmový přehled . Filmový přehled . NFA . 10 October 2021 . en.
    12. Web site: 14th San Sebastian International Film Festival . FIPRESCI . 10 October 2021.
    13. Web site: San Sebastian Film Festival :: 19 edition. Awards . San Sebastian Festival . 10 October 2021.
    14. Web site: Brooke . Michael . The Ear is listening: Karel Kachyna and the resurrection of a banned classic . BFI . 10 October 2021 . en . 27 August 2019.
    15. Web site: 15th Moscow International Film Festival (1987) . MIFF . 23 February 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130116194338/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1987 . 16 January 2013 .