The Prince and the Evening Star

The Prince and the Evening Star (Czech and Slovak: Princ a Večernice) is a 1979 Czechoslovak coming-of-age fantasy film produced by the Barrandov Studios.

Background

Film based on short story O Slunečníku, Měsíčníku a Větrníku (Of Sunlight, Moonlight and Windmill) in the work collection of author Božena Němcová in the XIX century.

Plot

Old King has a son Velen and three daughters as Helenka, Elenka, Lenka. They were all very young and had nothing to do but play and sleep every day.

However, one day the King leaves Velen to temporarily run the country. That is one night, while Velen wishes upon the Evening Star, hoping to find grooms for his three sisters, and Evening Star delivers her three brothers, Sunbeam, Moonbeam and Windbeam. Meanwhile, Velen falls in love with the Evening Star. The King is dissatisfied with Velen's actions and wants Velen to bring his sisters back. They quarrel each other, and Velen leaves the castle on a quest to retrieve his sisters, as well as find the object of his affection, Evening Star. He set off in a hurry without much thought and without knowing where to start.

Velen has to face many dangers on his journey without end, including being endangered by the evil wizard Mrakomor ("cloudbreaker", a personification of storm) who wants to marry Evening Star. Velen had to stand alone to fight against the traps of this hidden enemy, but with the help from his brothers in law. After all, he then returns home with bride Evening Star and his sisters, accompanied by their husbands.

Finally, Velen is allowed to marry Evening Star.

Production

Exterior shots were staged in summer 1978 at castles Ploskovice, Hrádek u Nechanic, Krakovec and especially the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks.

Cast

Main

• Juraj Ďurdiak as Prince Velen
• LibuÅ¡e Å afránková as Princess Večernice the Evening Star
• Julie JuriÅ¡tová as Princess Helenka
• Zlata Adamovská as Princess Elenka
• Ivana Andrlová as Princess Lenka
• Oldřich Táborský as Větrník the Windbeam, Helenka's spouse
• Alexej Okuněv as Měsíčník the Moonbeam, Elenka's spouse
• Petr Svoboda as Slunečník the Sunbeam, Lenka's spouse
• Radoslav Brzobohatý as Mrakomor the Wizard

Support

• FrantiÅ¡ek Filipovský as Kacafírek the Clown
• Vladimír Menšík as the Old King
• Čestmír Randa as the innkeeper
• Rudolf Jelínek as Čestmír the Knight
• Viktor Maurer as the porker
• Karel Augusta as the blind man
• Ladislav Brothánek as the strapper
• Václav Lohniský as the retired captain
• Vladimír Krska as the hunchback
• Ladislav Trojan as the groom
• Jiří Lír as the armless man
• MiloÅ¡ VavruÅ¡ka as the servant

Voiceover

• Petr Svojtka as Prince Velen
• Miroslav Moravec as the Windbeam
• Miroslav Masopust as the Moonbeam
• Mirko Musil as the strapper

Crew

• Music by Svatopluk Havelka
• Cinematography by Josef Illík
• Editing by Miroslav Hájek
• Production design by Karel Lier
• Set decoration by Eva Slívová
• Costume design by Theodor PiÅ¡těk
• Makeup department by Jiřina Bisingerová (makeup artist), Jiří Hurych (key makeup artist)
• Production management by Jiří Krejčí (production manager), Přemysl Pražský (production manager), Věra Winkelhöferová (unit manager)

Influence

The film was quickly received by audiences from many countries during the heyday of fantasy and horror films. It was shown in Italian cinemas in 1982 and was soon released in West Germany in VHS format.

In Asia, it has become a novel cinematic phenomenon for mainland China and Vietnam, which have adopted its poetics to form a completely new cinematic movement.

See also

• Give the Devil His Due
• Prince Bayaya
• The Princess with the Golden Star on Her ForeHead
• The Seven Ravens
• Three Wishes for Cinderella

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading

Bibliography

• NĚMCOVÁ, Božena. Národní báchorky a pověsti. LitomyÅ¡l : Antonín Augusta, 1862. Kapitola O slunečníku, měsíčníku a větrníku, pp. 170–185.
• KOLEKTIV AUTORÅ®. Český hraný film V. 1971–1980. 1st ed. Prague: Národní filmový archiv, 2007. ISBN 978-80-7004-141-3.
• MiloÅ¡ Macourek: Die Märchenbraut/Der Zauberrabe. ISBN 3-8025-5034-X, ISBN 978-3-8025-5034-8.
• Adamovič, Ivan. Encyklopedie fantastického filmu. Prague: Cinema, 1994. ISBN 80-901675-3-5. Kapitola Fantastický žánr na televizní obrazovce, p. 200.

Journals

• KOZLOVÁ, Danica. Princ a Večernice. Tvorba. Prague: Rudé právo, 22 August 1979, čís. 34, p. 19. ISSN 0139-5513.
• Å VAGROVÁ, Marta. Pohádka o princi a Večernici. Kino. Prague: Panorama, 10 July 1979, roč. 34, čís. 14, pp. 8–9. ISSN 0323-0295.
• COURTON, Miroslav. Příběh prince a Večernice. Rudé právo. Prague: Ústřední výbor KSČ, 5 July 1979, roč. 59, čís. 156, p. 5. Dostupné online. ISSN 0032-6569.
• KOLÁŘ, Robert. Princ a Večernice – pohádka, sen, skutečnost?. Záběr. Prague: Panorama, 18 December 1978, roč. 11, čís. 26, p. 3. (rozhovor). ISSN 0139-7664.
• JIRAS, Pavel. Princ a Večernice. Květy. Prague: Rudé právo, 14 December 1978, roč. 28, čís. 50, pp. 14–17. (rozhovor). ISSN 0023-5849.

External links

• Princ a Večernice : Restaurace zlatého věku (in Czech)