River

The opportunity to make a film that would stand out above the usual level of Czech filmmaking was given to director Josef Rovenský by producer Jan Reiter. Together they wrote a script based on a novel by the Sázava writer Jindřich Snízek. Rovenský, who at the time had already directed several films of the silent era, was known primarily as an actor. At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the busiest actors ever, and he also gained acting opportunities in foreign productions. The River in 1933 was his first sound film. It differed from the average Czech film of the time primarily in its subject matter and its realistic portrayal of the Czech countryside. Rovenský made a work with a simple plot about the friendship of 14-year-old Pavel and the same age Pepička, whose only dramatic plot is the boy's attempt to catch a pike, which would buy the girl shoes. Nature plays an important role in the film - especially the river, which does not only serve to complete the atmosphere, but is an independent personified subject capable of intervening in human destinies. The cinematographer Jan Stallich, whose way of capturing nature became an inspiration for other filmmakers, contributed greatly to the poetic charm of the film. The film was an extraordinary success with domestic and foreign critics. The extraordinary commercial sales outside Czechoslovakia were boosted by its hasty participation and award at the second Venice Film Festival in 1934. Josef Dobeš's music, especially the theme song "The Grey Road", was even purchased independently by several countries. The greatest importance of Greka for Czech cinema, however, lies in the establishment of the tradition of the lyrical-poetic film genre, which was followed by other filmmakers (e.g. František Čáp or Václav Krška).