Length / Feature: 89 minutes
Length / Blu-ray Special features:
92 minutes
Sound: 2.0 Mono (restored)
Colour
Original aspect ratio:
1.37:1
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
Blu-Ray BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / Region ABC
Blu-ray RRP: £19.99
DVD RRP: £12.99
Release Date: 16 December 2024
SR DVD 113 / SRBD 087
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Blu-Ray |
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Václav Vorlíček's 1973 reworking of the classic Cinderella is one of the most beloved films in all Central European cinema. Delightful and unconventional, Three Wishes for Cinderella places the familiar fairy tale into a wintry setting with down-to-earth characters and a feisty and rebellious Cinderella. Far from being just a passive beauty, she is a spirited rider, a champion hunter and takes every opportunity to challenge - and actively pursue - her handsome Prince.
A perennial favourite on television throughout Europe (including a broacast as a dubbed BBC serial in the 1970s), Three Wishes for Cinderella continues to enchant with its magic and beauty. Second Run are delighted to present this much-loved classic film in its original Czech version, presented from a 4K restoration and now available for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.
Three Wishes for Cinderella is presented in a 4K restoration of the film by the Czech National Film Archive and includes a new, exclusive and expansive filmed appreciation by writer, producer and film historian Michael Brooke, two early Czech film versions of the Cinderalla story, plus a booklet featuring an essay on the film by film critic and historian Tim Lucas and more!
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• Three Wishes for Cinderella (Tři oříšky pro Popelku, 1973) presented from a 4K restoration by the Czech National Film Archive.
• A new and expansive filmed appreciation by writer, producer and Czechoslovak cinema specialist Michael Brooke.
• Cinderella (Popelka, 1929): An early Czech silent film version of the classic tale directed by Josef Kokeisl.
• The Little Shoe (Střevíček, 1937): A short animated Czech film by Jiří Fridrich.
• Original theatrical trailer and 2015 restoration trailer
• Booklet featuring an essay by author, film critic and historian Tim Lucas.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• UK premiere on Blu-ray.
Directed by Václav Vorlíček
Screenplay - František Pavlíček (as Bohumila Zelenková)
based upon the story by Božena Němcová
Cinematography - Josef Illík
Editor - Miroslav Hájek
Music - Karel Svoboda
Costume design - Theodor Pištěk, Günter Schmidt
Sound – František Fabián
Main Cast
Libuše Šafránková - Cinderella (Popelku)
Pavel Trávníček - The Prince
Carola Braunbock – Stepmother
Rolf Hoppe - The King
Karin Lesch - The Queen
Daniela Hlaváčová - Dora
Vladimír Menšík - Vincent
“A delightfully unconventional retelling of the classic story that is remarkable for the degree to which it empowers its put-upon protagonist from the outset... Three Wishes for Cinderella is a charming little movie whose winning unpredictability succeeds in revitalizing an overly familiar story” Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog
“This proto-feminist take on the fairytale favourite offers a feisty cross-dressing heroine and a spoonful of sweetened socialism” Pamela Hutchinson, Sight and Sound
“If you are stuck for something to watch this Christmas you won’t go far wrong with Václav Vorlícek’s delightful Three Wishes for Cinderella... it comes with its own rebellious take on a classic fairy tale […] This is a Cinderella completely in charge of her own destiny, and sexuality, despite the obstacles she has to face” Kat Ellinger, Diabolique Magazine
“A beautifully photographed, feminist reworking of the classic story of Cinderellav TV Guide
“Director Václav Vorlíček retells the classic Cinderella fairy tale with modern-day socialist feminism” The New York Times
vThe film plays like the wish-fulfillment fan fiction of a thirteen-year-old girl... [Libuše Šafránková] possesses all the innocence, enthusiasm and ethics that a good fairy tale heroine needs, but demonstrates a competence in horsemanship, archery and climbing that modernize her into a girl-power emblem” Film Walrus