aka Zlaté kapradí
Label: Deaf Crocodile
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 111 Minutes 5 Seconds
Audio: Czech DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Jiří Weiss
Cast: Karla Chadimová, Vít Olmer, Daniela Smutná, Frantisek Smolík, Radoslav Brzobohatý, Zdenek Braunschläger, Cestmír Randa, Josef Bek, Otomar Krejca, Bohumil Svarc, Jorga Kotrbová, Jaroslav Vojta, Alena Bradácová, Lola Skrbková, Josef Hlinomaz, Jindrich Narenta, Eugen Jegorov
Yet another folk-horror fantasy rediscovery from Deaf Crocodile, this time it's the Czech film The Golden Fern (1963) aka Zlaté kapradí. The dreamy black and white fairytale opens with a handsome young shepherd named Jura (Vit Olmer) walking through a dark forest when he comes upon a magical golden fern. When he snatches the golden frond it seems to upset the balance of nature itself in the woods, the birds who have already seemed protective of the mysterious vegetation become noticeably agitated when it's been plucked. He returns to his humble cabin and is later visited by a gorgeous, blonde wood spirit (Karla Chadimová, A Game Without Rules), who has come to ask for him to return the golden fern. He syas he will return it if she kisses him, and she obliges,. However, she remains, and he names her Lesanka, the Czech word for “woods.” She ends up falling in love with him the human, but he is a man of weak character, and is often angry at the perceived laughter of others. After a night dancing at the local tavern they argue after he is embarrassed that she can out dance him. Later he goes out drinking with his pals Matej (Radoslav Brzobohatý) and Martin (Zdenek Braunschläger) and in his drunken state finds himself conscripted into the military to fight against the Turkish Empire. A broken-hearted Lasanka sees him off, beforehand she weaves a magical white shirt from the golden fern's seed, making him swear to never take it off.
While in battle the magic shirt proves quite valuable, saving him from mortal injury more than once, his bravery on the battlefield gaining him an audience with the General (Frantisek Smolík, The Princess with the Golden Star), there he meets the daughter's spoiled dark-haired daughter (Daniela Smutná, Romeo, Juliet, and Darkness) and he becomes smitten with her, forgetting about Lasanka. To prove his devotion to her she challenges him to retrieve three separate items that are prized possessions of the enemy Turkish vizier (Otomar Krejca), each challenge proving more difficult than the previous, the final challenge is to abscond with the vizier's prized Nightingale bird from his sleeping quarters, this last quest does not go so well, especially after the general's daughter tells him to throw away his soiled white shirt.
There some potent visceral imagery, like that of a Turkish soldier being punished by strangulations, a long scarf is wrapped around his neck and two other soldiers pull the opposite ends of the scarf tight cutting off his air supply, and a later scene of Jura being made to run a seemingly fatal death by a 1000 lashes gauntlet, a punishment after he is suspected of being a turncoat after crossing enemy lines and returning, having been injured on his latest devotional quest. The film ends poetically, where it began, with Jura wandering the dark forest looking for his wood spirit lover, bringing the film to a poignant and lyrical finale that is much darker than I had anticipated.
This dark fairytale about a flawed and faithless man with an easily wounded ego who gets greedy with love and life, and whose actions lead him down a tragic path, leaving him disfigured and alone at the pessimistic end is quite well crafted, it certainly weaves a spell, so much so that the nearly two hour run time did not phase me n the least. The film has a gorgeous black and white look to it, shot with anamorphic lenses that have a slight warping that adds to the surreal nature of the film. It's steeped in dark fairytale atmosphere and the score and sound design are equally key to the film's success. It's not quite a folk-horror entry, but it's certainly an adult, dark tale of fantasy with lyrical qualities that I found both poignant and haunting.
Audio/Video: The Golden Fern (1963) arrives on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. The black and white film looks terrific, grayscale and contrast look authentically dialed in, shadow detail is pleasing, and the nuance of the shadowy and surreal cinematography by Bedrich Batka (Little Darlings) translates very nicely. There are some slight blemishes and reel change marks that occasionally pop up, but overall this is a wonderful restoration and HD presentation. Audio comes by way of Czech DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and reproduces the Czech dialogue nicely, the emotional and at time quite eerie score by Jirí Srnka (Witchhammer).
Extras include Three Rare Early Jiří Weiss Shorts, all in black and white made from '36-'39, two are lyrical travelogues through picturesque mountainous areas of Czechoslovakia, plus a propaganda film Weiss made after he escaped to London ahead of the Nazi occupation. We also get a 58-min New video interview with the filmmaker’s son Jiří Weiss Jr.; a New Audio Commentary by film historian Peter Hames and Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company, plus a 16-min Video essay by film historian Evan Chester.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear full-height keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring new artwork by Beth Morris. Inside there is a scannable QR code that gives you access to Transcribed Versions of the Visual Essay and the Audio Commentary.
Special Features:
- Three Rare Early Jiří Weiss Shorts:
THE SUN SHINES ON THE RIVER LUŽNICE (NAD LUŽNICÍ SVÍTÍ SLUNCE) 1936, (9:58) – beautiful, lyrical B&W tone poem of the pre-WWII Czech countryside: athletic young men and women canoeing down the River Lužnice, passing medieval castles and sleepy half-forgotten villages. Silent with music.
SONG OF RUTHENIA (PÍSEŇ O PODKARPATSKÉ RUSI) 1937,(11:36). Another gorgeous B&W film poem of the Czech countryside and Weiss’s personal favorite of his early shorts. Mythical images of mountains and streams and rural farmers tilling the land make this a precursor to the mystical visions of the forest in THE GOLDEN FERN. Filmed traveling on horseback through the mountains of Ruthenia (then part of Czecholovakia, now part of Ukraine), shooting the diverse community with Ruthenians (Slavs), Jews and Roma all living in the same area.
THE RAPE OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA (ULOUPENÍ ČESKOSLOVENSKA) 1939, (16:52) Weiss’s classic B&W agitprop short was made after he escaped to London just ahead of the Nazis. He carried with him three reels of material for his unrealized film DVACET LET SVOBODY (TWENTY YEARS OF FREEDOM) i.e. 20 years of the existence of independent Czechoslovakia from its 1918 founding to 1938 when the Munich Agreement dissolved it. In English with poetic narration written by C. Day-Lewis (father of Daniel Day-Lewis).
- New video interview with the filmmaker’s son Jiří Weiss Jr. about his father’s remarkable life story and filmmaking career (58:12)
- New Audio Commentary by film historian Peter Hames and Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company
- Video essay by film historian Evan Chester (15:53)
- New Reversible Cover Artwork by Beth Morris
Screenshots from the Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray:
Extras:
Buy it!
#ad
