Pretoriusstraat 43, 1092 EZ Amsterdam
Sunday, 4th. of November.
Sunday, 4th. of November.
Film night at Joe’s Garage, nice and cozy cinema! Doors open at
20:00, film begins at 21:00, free entrance. You want to play a movie,
let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net
Samotáři
Samotáři
A generation comedy directed by David Ondříček
(and written by Petr Zelenka) developing several interconnected
stories of young people living in present day Prague, for various
reasons they are unable to cross beyond the confines of their own
egos and effect deep relationships. The narrative consists of many
bizarre comic motifs, which sometimes overshadow the serious main
subject. The film was very popular among young Czechs, thanks also to
its use of modern music and catchy phrases.
LONERS: PREPARATION AND THE SHOOTING
The screenplay
Petr Zelenka, the author of the screenplay, says: "In 1995 I had an idea to map in a documentary way, using a digital video camera, the lives of my closest friends and parents as we approached thirty - a sort of settling of accounts with my environment. In 1996 Olga Dabrowská and I wrote the first version of the screenplay. At a time when many among us were "loners", we tried to examine relationships and ways of living together other than marriage. I wanted to show loneliness not only as a handicap, but also as a state of mind that one can use for thinking about life."
Petr Zelenka, the author of the screenplay, says: "In 1995 I had an idea to map in a documentary way, using a digital video camera, the lives of my closest friends and parents as we approached thirty - a sort of settling of accounts with my environment. In 1996 Olga Dabrowská and I wrote the first version of the screenplay. At a time when many among us were "loners", we tried to examine relationships and ways of living together other than marriage. I wanted to show loneliness not only as a handicap, but also as a state of mind that one can use for thinking about life."
Thanks to this text Petr Zelenka received a stipend
from the Literary Fund. Further versions of screenplay were developed
already together with David Ondricek. From a psychological feeler
into human relationships the story moved to a comedy level full of
little tragicomedy moments, the life is full of. The final version
was ready before the start of the shooting in September 1999. We
received the grant from the Ministry of Culture.
Preparations
The main producer of the film is Lucky Man Films, a production company founded by David Ondricek in June 1999. He founded his own company to have the chance to realize the film according to his ideas. The name of the company was devised by David Ondricek: "I like the "Free cinema" movement, particularly the films of Lindsay Anderson. He shot his film "Oh, Lucky Man" in 1971 with my father as a cameraman. So I sort of wanted to dedicate my company to both."
After finishing Loners, the company will continue to work in film production.
The main producer of the film is Lucky Man Films, a production company founded by David Ondricek in June 1999. He founded his own company to have the chance to realize the film according to his ideas. The name of the company was devised by David Ondricek: "I like the "Free cinema" movement, particularly the films of Lindsay Anderson. He shot his film "Oh, Lucky Man" in 1971 with my father as a cameraman. So I sort of wanted to dedicate my company to both."
After finishing Loners, the company will continue to work in film production.
We succeeded to gain for our intention Czech
Television that became one of the co-producers of Loners. It has
been one of the main producers of Czech films for the past ten years.
The distributor CinemArt
decided to be not only the distributor of the film but to be involved
in co-production as well. This company is one of the main
distributors of foreign art films to Czech cinemas and has also been
the distributor of several successful recent Czech films.
The casting was long and quite particular.
David Ondricek searched for actors who would maximally suit his ideas
in various theatres, films, and TV programs for months before the
actual casting. The casting itself took nearly four months before he
managed to find the most suitable actor for each role. In the end, it
became a priority that most of the actors chosen not have great
experience in film, because their means of accessing their characters
would then come from the inside, from internal searching and not out
of bad film techniques.
Petr Zelenka had offered the role of Vesna to Labina
Mitevská when they met each other while she was serving in the jury
and he was in competition with Buttoners at the Cottbus festival.
Because she liked the story and she knew Zelenka and Ondricek's
previous films, she came to Prague to meet David Ondricek.
During the Shoot
The shoot took in all 61 shooting days, from September 25th to December 12th 1999. It was also quite a long shoot, because the intention of the creators was to shoot Loners solely in real locations, in a large number of places, and also to insure that the maximum effort was made to make each shot perfectly in accord with their ideas. Loners were shot in places typical of today's life in Prague, places usually avoided by tourists - and filmmakers. Among the locations for shooting were the former factory hall in Karlin, the area surrounding the Main Railway Station, the residential quarters of Letna and Holesovice, the Rock Café and the bar La Casa Blue.
The shoot took in all 61 shooting days, from September 25th to December 12th 1999. It was also quite a long shoot, because the intention of the creators was to shoot Loners solely in real locations, in a large number of places, and also to insure that the maximum effort was made to make each shot perfectly in accord with their ideas. Loners were shot in places typical of today's life in Prague, places usually avoided by tourists - and filmmakers. Among the locations for shooting were the former factory hall in Karlin, the area surrounding the Main Railway Station, the residential quarters of Letna and Holesovice, the Rock Café and the bar La Casa Blue.
Postproduction
Now, the work to finish the film continues. Together with Michal Lansky, David Ondricek edits Loners at the electronic editing room Mouse & Cut. The sound production will be done by the studio Cinemasound, the only studio in Central Europe equipped with the technique Dolby Digital norm, compatible with DVD.
Now, the work to finish the film continues. Together with Michal Lansky, David Ondricek edits Loners at the electronic editing room Mouse & Cut. The sound production will be done by the studio Cinemasound, the only studio in Central Europe equipped with the technique Dolby Digital norm, compatible with DVD.
In conjunction with premiere of Loners, a SOUNDTRACK
will be released, featuring original music by Jan P. Muchow,
recognized artist of the European musical scene, and songs by such
Czech and foreign groups as Ohm Square, Ecstasy of St. Theresa,
Morcheeba, Moloko etc.
Zajímavosti: Natáčení trvalo 65
dní, což je na české poměry docela hodně. [--]
David Ondříček během natáčení onemocněl a tři dny za něj
režíroval Petr Zelenka s Ondříčkem na telefonu. [--]
Ústřední skladba "Lucky Boy", která k filmu
neodmyslitelně patří. Jan P. Muchow ji natočil v paneláku na
domácí záznamové zařízení spolu s dalšími skladbami jako
demo. Většina se jich pak přetočila pro film znovu, kromě "Lucky
Boy", která je ve filmu i na soundtracku v původní panelákové
verzi. [--] Taxikář, kterému rupnou nervy při
jízdě je herec Otta Filip, který se ale opravdu příležitostně
živí i jako taxikář. Rána pěstí ve scénáři nebyla. [--]
Záběr siluet u noční řeky, na které přilétá hejno racků se
povedl díky házení drobků do řeky z mostu, aby se ptáci
nalákali na správné místo. [--] Holka na
fotkách, které si prohlíží postava Jakuba, když si uvědomí,
že nějakou holku vlastně má (na fotkách je loučení na nádraží)
je ve skutečnosti přítelkyně režiséra filmu Davida Ondříčka.
Těmito fotkami také začalo celé natáčení filmu na hlavním
nádraží. [--] Ondříček po prvním přečtení
scénář odmítnul, filmu se chopil až na doporučení Jana P.
Muchowa. [--] Jitka Schneiderová byla poslední
osazenou herečkou z hlavních rolí. S obsazením Hanky byl při
castingu největší problém. [--] Japonce hrají
ve filmu Mongolové.
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