Enchanted Heritage

Zdeněk Zelenka, 1985

Film at Filmový přehled

Summary

This debut feature film from writer-director Zdeněk Zelenka is a fairytale loosely inspired by a storybook of the same name written by Václav Řezáč. The title inheritance in question is a magic hat, which fulfils every wish of its owner. By chance, the hat ends up in the possession of hat maker’s son Vítek and his band of young friends. But a power-hungry duke, who rules over his subjects in a harsh and unjust manner, is also after the magical item. The children realise that in the wrong hands, the magic hat could become a dangerous weapon, and so they rid the item of its powers. Evil is ultimately punished and ordinary folk realise that they can best govern themselves... Zelenka’s “de-magicked fairytale” is an East German-Czechoslovak co-production released in 1985. Asides from illustrating the strong state of 1980s children’s film fairytales, it offers a fantastic performance from Jiří Kodet in the role of an irascible blue-blooded fiend.
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Film data

About a film

Production year 1985
Countries Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic
Categories film
Genres fairytale
Form feature
Duration 77 min
Director Zdeněk Zelenka
Cast Martin Peřt, Rudolf Štědrý, Tereza Chudobová, Miloš Kopecký, Luba Skořepová
Director of photography Viktor Růžička
Screenplay Josef Hanzlík, Zdeněk Zelenka
Editor Petr Sitár
Production designer Christoph Schneider, Jiří Hlupý
Music Jiří F. Svoboda
Sound designer František Fabián