Summary
A triptych of stories by the author Jan Procházka brought together three filmmakers of diverse character and experience to create Povídky o dětech (Tales about Children, 1964). Seasoned director Milan Vošmik joined ranks with the emergent Jiří Hanibal and the debuting Jaromír Dvořáček. Although Jan Procházka was to go on to better things as one of the most compelling screenwriters of the Czechoslovak New Wave, these short stories about children nevertheless demonstrate his remarkable talent for lyrical detail. The protagonists of the individual stories are courageous schoolgirl Magda (Vošmik’s tale Magdalena), mendacious sloven Jarmila (Dvořáček’s tale Podvodnice – Trickster) and thoughtful boy Ludvík (Hanibal’s tale Kapr – Carp). All three stories try to present a child’s eye view of the world, although the three directors also relied on experienced actors (Marie Tomášová, Jiřina Jirásková, Vladimír Menšík) in addition to their young cast.
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