Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker

Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker (Czech: O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci) is a 1987 Czechoslovak fantasy film directed by Zdeněk Troška and starring Michaela Kuklová and Jan Potměšil. It is based on a fairy tale by Czech writer Jan Drda.

Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker
Directed byZdeněk Troška
Produced byJiří Beránek
Written byKarel Steigerwald
StarringMichaela Kuklová
Jan Potměšil
Lubor Tokoš
Antonie Hegerlíková
Music byPetr Mandel
CinematographyJaroslav Brabec
Edited byEva Bobková
Release date
1 December 1987
Running time
87 minutes
CountryCzechoslovakia
LanguageCzech

The film was shot in castles in Bohemia and Moravia. It has been screened at film festivals and is considered a classic by the Czech national broadcaster TV Nova.

Plot

The beautiful Princess Jasněnka runs afoul of a powerful evil witch. Her father, the king, imprisons her in a tower. Jíra, a shoemaker, designs leather wings that allow him to fly, and comes across the tower where Jasněnka is trapped. The two fall in love, and Jíra returns to the tower to take Jasněnka away, to the horror of the castle staff who believe Jíra is Lucifer.

Jasněnka and Jíra marry, but her two enemy witches are determined to shatter their happiness. They force Jasněnka to make a mess in the couple's kitchen, expecting Jíra will beat her, but when he arrives he finds it funny. The witches also concoct a potion to erase memory that Jíra falls victim to, but he succeeds in remembering his identity.

Cast
Jan Potměšil stars as Jíra, while Yvetta Blanarovičová appears as Černava, the witch

Production
Film director Zdeněk Troška is known for his fairy tale films.

Director Zdeněk Troška made several fairy tale films, often following patterns where a young man ventures from a rural area to find love and defeat corrupt enemies.[1] His other films in this vein include The Loveliest Riddle, Princess from the Mill and its sequel.[2]

For Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker, Troška and screenwriter Karel Steigerwald adapted a fairy story by Czech writer and Communist Party member Jan Drda.[3][4] It was produced by Barrandov Studios, based in Prague.[5] Some of the film was shot in the castles Bouzov and Vítkovec, the latter of which is close to Holany.[6] For the scene where Jira rescues Jasnenka from the tower, an explosion and fire occurred during filming, frightening the lead actors. Troška noted Michaela Kuklová, who was 17 at the time, wept in fear.[7] Jira's wings were based on a 15th-century drawing by artist Leonardo da Vinci.[8]

Release

The film was released in theatres in Czechoslovakia on 1 December 1987.[9] Its English language titles include Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker,[10] and Princess Jasna and the Flying Cobbler.[3] In September 2002, it was screened in a series called the Week of Czech and Slovak Films in Pretoria, South Africa.[11] A repeat showing occurred during Film Week in Cape Town during September and October 2002.[11]

The film was screened in a Contemporary Czech Film international festival in Zimbabwe in October and November 2002.[12] It afterwards had a DVD release in the Czech Republic on 1 March 2004.[9]

Reception

The German film lexicon Zweitausendeins complimented the imaginative design of Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker.[13] Author Peter Harnes wrote that Troška's films all fell short of the work of Jiří Trnka and Jan Švankmajer.[1] In 2013, the Czech TV Nova called the film a favourite.[14]

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References
  1. Harnes 2016, p. 147.
  2. Harnes 2016, p. 151.
  3. Cowie 1988, p. 154.
  4. Nusl, Robert (19 June 2011). "Drda byl posledním novinářským žákem Karla Čapka". Deník. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  5. Cowie 1988, p. 158.
  6. "O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci". pohadkar.cz. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  7. Zejdová, Hana (30 December 2015). "O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci: Výbuch poslal štáb k zemi! A boty Kuklové shořely na prach". Blesk. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  8. "Po 28 letech! Poznáte DNES herce z pohádky O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci?". TV Nova. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  9. "O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci". Czech-Slovak Film Database. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  10. Buchar 2004, p. 97.
  11. Report on the Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Prague 2003, p. 211.
  12. Report on the Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic, p. 219.
  13. "Die Prinzessin und der fliegende Schuster". Zweitausendeins.de. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  14. "O princezně Jasněnce: Jak vypadají hlavní hrdinové po 25 letech? Podívejte se!". TV Nova. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2016.

Bibliography
  • Buchar, Robert (2004). Czech New Wave Filmmakers in Interviews. McFarland & Company.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Cowie, Peter (1988). Variety International Film Guide. Tantivy Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Harnes, Peter (2016). "The Czech and Slovak Fairy-Tale Film". Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives. Routledge.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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