DVD Edition Slovak Cinema of the 70-ies

DVD The Copper Tower

A dramatic story of three friends happily spending time on their own in a mountain cottage in the High Tatras. On the arrival of a wonderful woman heir perfect friendship is put to a test. She marries one of the men, but he is told by another that his wife is unfaithful. When she falls to her death, her husband kills himself when he discovers she was true to him after all.

Regional Code: 0 – Region Free
Format: 4:3
Subtitles: Slovak, English.
Menu: Slovak, English.
Bonus information: press coverage, biographies, photogallery

DVD The Eagle Feather

The movie is a sequel to the film „The Copper Tower“. After two years spent in prison because of smuggling return twoo friends to the Stratena Dolina Valley in the High Tatras Mountains and plan a revenge on police lieutenant Pardek.

Regional Code: 0 – Region Free
Format: 4:3
Subtitles: Slovak, English.
Menu: Slovak, English.
Bonus information: press coverage, biographies, photogallery

DVD If I Had a Gun

This is a tragicomic story about boys who even in times of war remember how to play soldiers, dream of heroic deeds, spy on girls, show of in front of friends, and make up fantastic adventures. With the same naive childishness they face grim events of war and everyday village life. Despite the impact of early normalization introduced by the regime, director Stefan Uher succeeded in turning Milan Ferko and Elo Havetta‘s screenplay into a vivid picture on a theme so often romanticized and distorted by ideology.

Run Time: 86 min.
Director: Stefan Uher
Cast: Marian Bernat, Jozef Graf, Daniel Lapunik, Brigita Hausnerova, Emilia Dosekova, Hana Grissova, Ludovit Reiter, Tomas Zilincik, Michal Moncek, Anton Sulik, Ludovit Kroner, Katarina Mareckova
Production: Ceskoslovensky film Bratislava, Studio hranych filmov Bratislava – Koliba, 1971
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage

DVD Wild Lillies

The second, and unfortunately, the last feature film made by a unique talent among Slovak filmmakers, Elo Havetta, is one of the most original pictures of Slovak cinematography. The film was conceived as a paraphrase of Vincent Sikula’s prose, the tragicomic episodes of which screenwriter Lubor Dohnal and Havetta composed into a dramatic story. The main characters are veterans coming home from the First World War. And while they feel a need to find a home and settle down, they are also driven by a passion for a vagrant’s free life.

Run Time: 77 min
Director: Elo Havetta
Cast: Lotar Radvanyi, Vladimir Kostovic, Zofia Martisova, Ivan Krivosudsky, Emil Tomascik, Ludovit Kroner, Jan Melkovic, Marian Filadelfi, Augustin Kuban, Viliam F. Sikula, Vincent
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage
REMARK: bonuses from the first edition of the film (2 DVDs, together with Celebration in the Botanical Garden) are not included on this DVD.

DVD Pacho, the Brigand of Hybe

Martin Tapak’s Pacho, the Brigand of Hybe was based on the story written by Peter Jaros as a humorous resemblance of the Slovak legendary hero Juro Janosik spiced up with numerous cliches of official Slovak folklore. The resulting picture is one of the very few, if not the only truly well-done Slovak film parody. Jozef Kroner’s unforgettable performance in the lead role, supported by the witty dialogues written by classic Slovak comedians Milan Lasica and Julius Satinsky made the film into a unique phenomenon of Slovak cinematographic tradition.

Run Time: 85 min.
Director: Martin Tapak
Cast: Jozef Kroner, Dusan Blaskovic, Karol Calik, Slavo Zahradnik, Marian Labuda and others
Production: Slovenska filmova tvorba, 1975
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage.

DVD is sold out. Another, the first edition of DVD Pacho, the Brigand of Hybe you can orderHERE.

DVD Red Wine I-II

An epic saga of the Habdza family of vineyard keepers set in western Slovakian countryside at the beginning of the 20th century. Director Andrej Lettrich‘s novel adaptation talks of plotting, forbidden love, family discord, and struggle for heritage and power. The story is engaging thanks to the impressive performances of popular actors, dramatic situations, and sensitive music. Red Wine is not so much inventive in terms of auteurship as it is a work of excellent craftsmanship. The resulting picture is a costume production neatly adapted to the character of Slovak rural life in the past.

Run Time: 144 min.
Director: Andrej Lettrich
Cast: Stefan Kvietik, Emilia Vasaryova, Ivan Rajniak, Karol Machata, Julius Vasek, Ivan Krivosudsky, Frantisek Baca, Vladimir Durdik ml., Dusan Blaskovic, Ludovit Gresso, Zuzana Kocurikova, Michal Docolomansky, Brigita Hausnerova
Production: Ceskoslovenska televizia Bratislava, Slovenska filmova tvorba, Studio hranych filmov Bratislava – Koliba, 1976
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage

DVD Pink Dreams

An amiable picture about entering adulthood, great dreams, and the first – forbidden – love of a white postman, Jakub, and a pretty Gypsy girl, Jolanka. This is a poetic story, a mosaic of the playful world springing from the wild imagination of the village postman and its clash with the pragmatic mundane reality that finally beats the rosy dreams of the young protagonists. Director Dusan Hanak and screenwriter Dusan Dusek‘s most popular film has been cherished by critics as well as by wide audiences at home and abroad.

Run Time: 80 min.
Director: Dusan Hanak
Cast: Juraj Nvota, Iva Bittova, Josef Hlinomaz, Marie Motlova, Ludovit Kroner, Libuse Havelkova, Vaclav Babka, Hana Slivkova, Anton Tron, Mila Beran, Nada Hejna, Arpad Rigo, Viera Souckova, Milan Kis

Production: Slovensky film Bratislava, Studio hranych filmov Bratislava – Koliba, 1976
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage

DVD The Winner

Two former boxers meet in the ring again after years for a re-run of an old match. The old loser currently works as a factory executive and he is unwilling to reconcile with his old defeat. He challenges the old winner, whose job in a garage puts him on the opposite end of the career ladder. The match is a battle fought between two men who stand for two different attitudes to life. The confrontation results in the revelation that the winner is not always the one whose arm is raised by the referee after the last round.

Run Time: 78 min.
Director: Dusan Trancik
Cast: Jaroslav Tomsa, Jaroslav Pucher, Dagmar Kovacikova, Pavla Bozikova, Gejza Maraky, Juraj Kralik, Kristina Sitarova, Vera Uzelacova, Eva Cervena, Karol Smidke
Production: Slovensky film Bratislava, Studio hranych filmov Bratislava – Koliba, 1978
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage

DVD And I’ll Run To the End of the Earth

Majka Chatterbox is a girl entering adolescence. She was born with a minor disability. While her mother keeps scolding her for the way she walks, her classmates mock her and call her a “duck“. Along an innocent first love affair and a secret friendship, she receives little understanding from her parents and lots of malice from her schoolmates. Majka finds refuge with her grandmother and in her own phantasy world. Director Peter Solan made a sensitive portrait of a twelve-year-old schoolgirl. The eloquent film language talks to child and adult audiences alike.

Run Time: 74 min.
Director: Peter Solan
Cast: Anetka Lakatosova, Hana Pastejrikova, Ivan Mistrik, Olga Adamcikova, Martin Zatovic, Viera Strniskova, Miriam Vranova, Mario Slivka, Samuel Adamcik, Elena Klemova
Production: Slovenska filmova tvorba, Studio hranych filmov Bratislava – Koliba, 1979
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage

DVD Build a House, Plant a Tree

Juraj Jakubisko‘s first feature film after a forced nine-year-long break is a story about business-spirited Jozef Matus (excellent performance by Pavel Novy). He arrives to a small village in eastern Slovakia to settle down and start a family. He is ready to subordinate everything to his goal. It all starts with stealing building material and ends with him disregarding those close to him to a point where his ambitions are turning against himself. Build a House, Plant a Tree is a viewer-friendly film with a plot resembling a western, including several attractive action sequences.

Run Time: 88 min.
Director: Juraj Jakubisko
Cast: Pavel Novy, Jana Brezinova, Ondrej Pavelka, Robert Surina, Gustav Opocensky, Zdenek Dusek, Anton Sulik
Production: Slovensky film Bratislava, Studio hranych filmov Bratislava – Koliba,1979
Region: 0 – Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Language: Slovak DD 2.0 remastered
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Menu: Slovak, English
Bonuses: Photogallery; About the movie; Biographies; Press coverage

DVD A Week in Film (1970-1979)

This DVD brings a selection of ten issues of the newsreel A Week in Film from the period of 1970-1979. Each newsreel contains several brief news reports from various areas of the life of contemporary society, such as politics, economy, science, cultural events, and sports. By the choice of themes and the method of their conveying this mosaic of film reports offers a picture of at times somewhat bizarre atmosphere of communist past.

Directed by: Stefan Kamenicky (TvF 2/1970), Marcela Jurovska (TvF 23/1970, 49/1971), Stefan Bujna (TvF 34/1973), Peter Hledik (TvF 38/1974, 42/1975), Emil Fornay (TvF 51/1977, 31/1979), Ludovit Vesely (TvF 35/1978) , Mikulas Fodor (19/1979)
Total running time: 90 minutes
Classical format, PAL System
Bonus article: Marcela Plitkovska -Jurrkovska: Neewsreels - What Were They?
Subtitles: Slovak, English
Audio: Slovak 2.0 (mono)
menu: Slovak, English