Summary
During the 1950s, director Bořivoj Zeman added two fairytale films to the Czechoslovak treasure chest: the romantic Pyšná princezna (The Proud Princess, 1952), and the fairytale comedy Byl jednou jeden král... (Once Upon a Time, There Was a King, 1954). The Proud Princess, inspired by a story from author Božena Němcová, represents one of the most well-known film fairytales. Capricious and conceited Krasomila (Alena Vránová) spurns a marriage offer from the wise King Miroslav (Vladimír Ráž). He decides to punish the prideful beauty from a neighbouring land, while a new royal gardener becomes entangled in Krasomila’s orbit, providing her with a lecture in humility with the aid of a magical, singing plant. Zeman’s film represents not only an excellent example of the meticulous and imaginative bringing-to-life of a Czech fairytale adventure, but also an instance of a carefully and persuasively-crafted piece of ideological propaganda, in which Miroslav’s flourishing communist-like kingdom fulfils the ideal of a loving “big brother” that serves as a contrast to Krasomila’s decaying feudal land.
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