Release Date: 28th Oct 2013Second Run DVD present a unique double bill of two early works now regarded as two of the main precursors of the Czechoslovak New Wave.
The White Dove (Holubice)
The debut feature of master filmmaker František Vláčil (Marketa Lazarová; The Valley of the Bees) The White Dove’s straightforward narrative belies complex themes and striking visual imagery.
A young boy injures and then nurses a white dove back to health so that it can continue its journey home. Echoing Ken Loach’s film Kes, and with music by the great Zdenek Liška, the film emerges as a work of great poetry and humanism.
Josef Kilián (Postava k podpírání)
The surrealist Josef Kilián (making its world-première release on DVD) is a dark and absurdly humorous, biting allegory of life under a totalitarian regime. Inspired by the grotesque nightmares of Franz Kafka and another icon of Czech literature, the anti-militarist, anti-authoritarian Jaroslav Hasek, the film was supressed by the authorities after the Soviet invasion of 1968.
Having made only four films, and despite being the author of the screenplays for Jindřich Polák's Ikarie XB 1, Věra Chytilová's Daisies and Karel Zeman's A Jester’s Tale, Juráček remains one of the Czechoslovak New Wave’s most neglected artists.
This Special Edition, two-film DVD presents both films in new digital transfers with restored picture and sound and features a 24-page booklet with new essays on both films by author Peter Hames.
• New digital transfers with restored picture and sound
• 24-page booklet featuring new essays on both films by author Peter Hames
• New and improved English subtitle translations
• Josef Kilián - a world-première release on DVD
The White Dove (Holubice)
Karel Smyczek - Michal (Miša)
Kateřina Irmanovová - Susanne
Václav Irmanov – Martin
with Gustav Püttjerm, Hans Peter Reinecke
Directed and written by František Vláčil
based on a story by Otakar Kirchner
Cinematography - Jan Čuřík
Assistant camera -Jan Němeček, Miroslav Ondříček
Music - Zdeněk Liška
Art direction - Oldřich Bosák
Editor - Miloslav Hájek
Sound- František Fabián
Josef Kilián (Postava k podpírání)
Karel Vašíček - Jan Herold
Consuela Morávková - Girl in the cat shop
with Ivan Růžička, Pavel Bártl, Jiří Stivín, Pavel Šilhánek
Directed by Pavel Juráček and Jan Schmidt
Screenplay - Pavel Juráček
Cinematography - Jan Čuřík
Music - Wiliam Bukový
Art direction - Oldřich Bosák
Editor - Zdeněk Stehlík
František Vláčil's acclaimed films Marketa Lazarová (voted by critics and filmmakers as the greatest Czech film ever made), The Valley of the Bees and Adelheid are also available on Second Run DVD either as individual releases or as part of
The František Vláčil Collection Box Set.
Tomáš Hejtmánek's intimate documentary portrait of Vláčil Sentiment is also available either as a specially-priced individual release (only available exclusively through our website) or as part of The František Vláčil Collection Box Set.
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Awards
The White Dove
1960 Venice Film Festival
Winner: Medal for Direction and Cinematography (out of competition)
1961 Cannes Film Festival for Children and Young People / Winner: Grand Prix
1961 Versailles Film Festival
Winner: Second Prize, The Silver Sun
1962 Montevideo Festival of Documentary and Experimental Film / Winner: Grand Prix
2003 European Federation of Cinematographers:
Selected as one of 100 films representing "the art of cinematography at its best"
Josef Kilián
1963 Oberhausen International Short Film Festival /
Winner: Grand Prix
1963 Mannheim International Film Festival /
Winner: FIPRESCI Prize
The White Dove:
“A bold and striking debut” Sight & Sound
"A remarkable first effort ... Vlácil and cameraman Jan Curík combine to produce some of the most beautiful images seen on the screen in a long time" Variety
“As beautifully conceived as any European movie of the ’60s” Village Voice
Josef Kilián:
"A wonderfully clever, surreal, and gloomy yet enjoyable tale, perfect for cat lovers and fans of Eastern European cinema" Bonjour Tristesse
"Juráček and Schmidt scarcely put a foot wrong in evoking the incomprehensible mazes - simultaneously absurd and terrifying - of totalitarian bureaucracy"
Time Out