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Vynález Zkázy
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne
The Deadly Invention
Czechoslovakia 1958
produced by
Zdenek Novak for Ceskoslovenský Státní Film, Filmové Studio Gottwaldov
directed by Karel Zeman
starring Lukor Tokos, Arnost Navrátil, Miroslav Holub, Frantisek Slégr, Václav Kyzlink, Jana Zatloukalová, Frantisek Cerný, Otto Simánek, Václav Trégl
screenplay by Frantisek Hrubín, Karel Zeman, dialogue by Milan Vácha, based on the novel Facing the Flag by Jules Verne, music by Zdenek Liska, special effects artists: Zdenek Ostrcil, Josef Zeman, special effects animators: Frantisek Krcmár, Arnost Kupcik, Jindrich Liska
Karel Zeman's Jules Verne adaptations
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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The late 1800s, the age of inventions - Jules Verne-like inventions
that is, including flying machines, submarines and the like. Professor
Roch (Arnost Navrátil) is on the verge of inventing nuclear power - for
the good of mankind of course. But there is a villain, Count Artigas
(Miroslav Holub), who has one or two ideas how to turn nuclear energy into
a powerful destructive force ... Artigas is the leader of a gang of
pirates who operate primarily per submarine, usually attacking their prey
from below. He resides in a city built at the bottom of an extinct volcano
where nobody will ever be able to find him. Eventually, Artigas takes
Professor Roch and his assistant Hart (Lubor Tokos) captive, but while
Roch is treated like a guest of honourand given everything he wants to
continue his experiments, Hart is treated as a disposable prisoner. Roch
is treated so well in fact he doesn't even realize Artigas might have
ulterior motives, and all attempts by Hart to warn him fail. But Hart
manages to send a message to the outer world to inform them of the
location of Artigas' island. And the day the international Navy shows up
to attack, Hart manages to secure a diving suit and escape. But he has to
return, to save Jana (Jana
Zatloukalová), another prisoner who has helped him a lot, and
try again to warn the professor. Warn the professor he does no manage,
but at least he and Jana manage to escape the island in a hot air balloon.
Seeing the approaching international fleet and the projectile (his making)
the pirates intent to use to stop it, the professor realizes his error and
detonates the projectile right then and there so the island goes up in a
nuclear bang ... In story, this might be a rather free Jules
Verne-adaptation, but in style it sticks extremely closely to the original
illustrations from the author's time - to an extent that the film
intentionally defies realism to look just like the prints of old. This
results in a film crammed with playful special effects of all kinds
(including matte paintings, animation, stop motion, back projection, blue
screen, etc) which serve the purpose of creating a world out of time (just
like the story is out of time), a world of wonder, well a world of its
own. Add to this a fun story that's in equal parts effects, action and
irony, and you've got yourself a pretty wonderful film. During
his career, director Karel Zeman would return to the works of Jules Verne
time and again, with invariably fascinating results.
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