Talking to a DVD seller about Czech cinema,I found out about a very early Czech adaptation of The Little Mermaid.Being interested in seeing an adaptation that is different to the Disney take,I decided that it was time to Czech out the mermaid.
The plot:
Getting told that her dad is able to see what humans are doing on the land,mermaid Malá morská Víla creeps in,and is surprised to find a stature of her mum.Getting caught by her dad, víla is told about how great her mother was,and how great she will be,when she takes over from him as leader of the mermaids. Receiving a chance to put her head above the sea for the first time, Víla spots Prince Jizní Rise drowning,and decides to save Rise by taking him to shore.Being well aware that humans do not live for the 300 years that mermaids do, Víla is unable to stop a great desire of wanting to do anything to swim into Rise's heart.
View on the film:
Made when the Czech New Wave had gone under the sea,co-writer/(along with Ota Hofman) director Karel Kachyna looks towards the New Wave music that was coming into shore.Giving each of the mermaids very unique haircuts, Kachyna and cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera dive into the New Wave atmosphere,with the mermaids being covered in floating clothes and the waves of smoke over the sea (which was actually a lime quarry location!) , breath-heavy songs and lavish eye shadows swimming in the New Wave vibe. Swept up in the whimsical New Wave mood of their Hans Christian Andersen adaptation,the screenplay by Kachyna and Hofman is initially unsure over what direction the river is running,with everything in the relationship between Král vsech morí and Malá morská víla being kept on the surface, and pulling away from an emotional depth.
Stepping onto land,the writers reveal a new set of legs in their confidence,by showing an impressive delicacy over casting víla's richly melancholy love for Ríse across the sea,as a startlingly stylised red sea bleeds for the inevitable doomed romance.Joined by an elegant Jaroslava Schallerová, (who made her debut in the Czech Fantasy Valerie and Her Week of Wonder) Miroslava Safránková gives an extraordinary performance as Víla,whose painful love for the prince Safránková expresses with a gradual change in body language ,as the little mermaid swims out to sea.
The plot:
Getting told that her dad is able to see what humans are doing on the land,mermaid Malá morská Víla creeps in,and is surprised to find a stature of her mum.Getting caught by her dad, víla is told about how great her mother was,and how great she will be,when she takes over from him as leader of the mermaids. Receiving a chance to put her head above the sea for the first time, Víla spots Prince Jizní Rise drowning,and decides to save Rise by taking him to shore.Being well aware that humans do not live for the 300 years that mermaids do, Víla is unable to stop a great desire of wanting to do anything to swim into Rise's heart.
View on the film:
Made when the Czech New Wave had gone under the sea,co-writer/(along with Ota Hofman) director Karel Kachyna looks towards the New Wave music that was coming into shore.Giving each of the mermaids very unique haircuts, Kachyna and cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera dive into the New Wave atmosphere,with the mermaids being covered in floating clothes and the waves of smoke over the sea (which was actually a lime quarry location!) , breath-heavy songs and lavish eye shadows swimming in the New Wave vibe. Swept up in the whimsical New Wave mood of their Hans Christian Andersen adaptation,the screenplay by Kachyna and Hofman is initially unsure over what direction the river is running,with everything in the relationship between Král vsech morí and Malá morská víla being kept on the surface, and pulling away from an emotional depth.
Stepping onto land,the writers reveal a new set of legs in their confidence,by showing an impressive delicacy over casting víla's richly melancholy love for Ríse across the sea,as a startlingly stylised red sea bleeds for the inevitable doomed romance.Joined by an elegant Jaroslava Schallerová, (who made her debut in the Czech Fantasy Valerie and Her Week of Wonder) Miroslava Safránková gives an extraordinary performance as Víla,whose painful love for the prince Safránková expresses with a gradual change in body language ,as the little mermaid swims out to sea.