Karel Kachyňa

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

Karel Kachyňa
Karel Kachyňa during a visit of the Malmö Film Festival, 1990
Born(1924-05-01)1 May 1924
Vyškov, Czechoslovakia
Died12 March 2004(2004-03-12) (aged 79)
Prague, Czech Republic
Alma materFilm and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
Occupation(s)Film director, Screenwriter
Years active1950–2003
Spouses
Eliška Kuchařová
​
​
(m. 1950; div. 1964)​
    ​
    (m. 1993)​

    Early life

    He was born on May 1, 1920, in Vyškov, 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.[1] 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.[2]

    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.[3][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.[4] 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.[5]

    Filmography

    Feature films
    YearNameNotes
    1954Everything Ends Tonight
    1955The Lost Track
    1958At That Time, at Christmas...
    1959Smugglers of Death
    1960The Slinger
    1961FettersEntered in 2nd Moscow International Film Festival.[6]
    1961Trials and TribulationsSpecial Jury Prize at 1962 Mar del Plata Film Festival[7]
    1962Vertigo
    1963HopeBest director at 1964 Mar del Plata Film Festival[8]
    1964The High WallSilver Sail at 1964 Locarno Film Festival[9]
    1965Long Live the Republic!Best film at 1966 Mar del Plata Film Festival[10]
    FIPRESCI prize at 1966 San Sebastián Film Festival[11]
    1966Coach to Vienna3rd prize at 1966 Karlovy Vary Film Festival
    1967The Nun's NightOfficial selection of 28th Venice International Film Festival[2]
    1968Christmas with Elizabeth
    1968Our Crazy FamilyKachyňa finished the film after its director Jan Valášek died
    1969A Ridiculous Gentleman
    1970Jumping over Puddles AgainSilver Shell at 1971 San Sebastián International Film Festival[12]
    1970The EarReleased in 1990.
    Official selection of 1990 Cannes Film Festival[13]
    1971The Secret of the Great Story-Teller
    1972The Train to the Heaven Station
    1973Love
    1973Hot Winter
    1974Pauline
    1974The Girl Robinson
    1975The Ugly Village
    1976The Little Mermaid
    1976Death of a Fly
    1978Waiting for the Rain
    1978Meeting in July
    1980Love Between the Raindrops
    1980The Little Sugar House
    1981Watch Out, the Doctor Is on His Round!
    1983Fandy, oh Fandy!
    1983The Nurses
    1985A Good Light
    1986Forbidden DreamsEntered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival.[14]
    1987...And What Now, Gentlemen?
    1988To the Knowledge of Your Beloved
    1989Young Girls, Crazy Guys
    1990The Last ButterflyVienna Film Award at 1990 Vienna International Film Festival
    1992The Cow
    1995Fany
    1999Hanele

    Television

    Documentaries
    • Bratři (1975)
    • Legenda (1973)
    • Four Times About Bulgaria (1958)
    • The City Has Its Own Face (1958)
    • World Championship of Air Models (1957)
    • Crooked Mirror (1956)
    • Stará čínská opera (1953)
    • Z čínského zápisníku (1953)
    • Lidé jednoho srdce (1953)
    • Neobyčejná léta (1952)
    • They Know What to Do (1950)
    • Za život radostný (1950)
    • Není stále zamračeno (1949)

    References
    1. Bergan, Ronald (17 April 2004). "Obituary: Karel Kachyna". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    2. Matušková, Magdaléna (15 January 2020). Murguía, Salvador Jimenez; O'Reilly, Sean; McMenamin, Amanda (eds.). A Cuban Cinema Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-5381-0774-4. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    3. Laudin, Radek (11 August 2017). "Před půlstoletím vznikla Noc nevěsty, hvězdní herci byli 20 let v trezoru". iDNES. Mladá fronta. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    4. Jachnin, Boris (1995). "Karel Kachyňa: Four Decades of a Great Czech Director". Kinema (Fall 1995). doi:10.15353/kinema.vi.765. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    5. Dolejšová, Kristýna (20 September 2018). "Bydliště umělců, roubenka nebo domeček bez dveří. Nový Svět skrývá zajímavou podívanou". Český rozhlas Vltava (in Czech). Český rozhlas. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    6. "2nd Moscow International Film Festival (1961)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
    7. "Trials and Tribulations (1961)". Filmový přehled. NFA. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    8. "Hope (1963) – Filmový přehled". Filmový přehled. NFA. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    9. "1964 / Locarno Film Festival". Locarno Film Festival. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    10. "Long Live the Republic! (1965) – Filmový přehled". Filmový přehled. NFA. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    11. "14th San Sebastian International Film Festival". FIPRESCI. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    12. "San Sebastian Film Festival :: 19 edition. Awards". San Sebastian Festival. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    13. Brooke, Michael (27 August 2019). "The Ear is listening: Karel Kachyna and the resurrection of a banned classic". BFI. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
    14. "15th Moscow International Film Festival (1987)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.

    Bibliography
    • Melounek, Pavel (1984). Karel Kachyňa. Prague: Československý filmový ústav.
    • Kachyňa, Karel; Jasný, Vojtěch; Čech, Jaroslav (1954). Byli jsme v zemi květů. Prague: Naše vojsko.
    • Mihulová, Alena (2015). Můj život s Karlem Kachyňou : (i bez něj) (1st ed.). Prague: XYZ. ISBN 9788075050809.
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