Blues for E. F. B.

Vladimír Sís, 1980

Film at Filmový přehled

Summary

Director Vladimír Sís (Zpívající film – The Singing Film, 1972; Balada pro banditu – A Ballad for the Bandit, 1979; Barrandovské nocturno aneb Jak film zpíval a tančil – Barrandov Nocturne, or How a Film Danced and Sang, 1984) demonstrated his love for musical themes in this film dedicated to one of the most important figures in avant-garde theatre – playwright and author Emil František Burian (“E. F. B.”). The basic storyline centres around the inquisitive character David (Juraj Nvota), who is trying to learn as much about Burian as possible. He goes to an exhibition at the U Hybernů palace in Prague, where he and his girlfriend take in E. F. B.’s works as well as projects he inspired. Among these, for example, is a show by Boleslav Polívka called Trosečník (Castaway, 2000). Instead of editing in the traditional documentary style, Sís tried using a more dynamic form – half-fictitious, half-documentary collage – in a bid to show Burian’s creative personality from a wide variety of perspectives.
Read more

Film data

About a film

Production year 1980
Countries Czechoslovakia
Categories film
Genres music
Form feature
Duration 85 min
Director Vladimír Sís
Cast Juraj Nvota, Miroslava Marešová, Nina Divíšková, Zdeněk Hrabal, Valtr Taub
Director of photography Viktor Růžička
Screenplay Vladimír Sís
Editor Jaromír Janáček
Production designer Bohumil Nový
Artist Josef Němec
Music Vlastimil Hála, E. F. Burian
Sound designer Ivo Špalj, František Strangmüller