The film studios originated hand in hand with civil engineer
Vaclav Havel’s inspired idea to build a garden city with a
contemporary architectural design. “America was my inspiration,”
the father of the Czech Republic’s ex-president once admitted.
“After the First World War, I was the chairman of the Czechoslovak
Students’ Union and, at my own expense, I left for a study tour of
universities in the United States. Whilst visiting the University
of California’s Berkeley campus, I found myself in a beautiful
neighborhood where some of California’s richest people lived. It
was there – the year was 1924 – that the idea for Barrandov came to
my mind." The name Barrandov was inspired by the bronze plaque
mounted on the mountain plateau that stands above Prague. This
memorial was placed in order to remind tourists of the stay of
Joachim Barrande, the French scientist and friend of the Czech
nation, whose discoveries of trilobites led to his fame.
It was specifically on this mountain plateau, with its
uninterrupted horizon, that a villa for film stars and
entrepreneurs were built around a picturesque garden restaurant
called the Terasa. The primary development however, involved the
construction of sound motion picture studios – the most modern film
center of that era. The studios were managed by Milos Havel, Vaclav
Havel’s brother. Detailed plans for the entire area were designed
by Max Urban, who was a leading architect and urban planner, as
wells as a film director. The construction of villas on the
Barrandov land lots was left up to the individual tastes of the
owners, but engineer Havel reserved the right to review the plans
and consult with Urban. A few of their additions included a
swimming pool to the Terasa Restaurant and a free shuttle bus that
transported guests from Wenceslas Square, the heart of Prague
itself, to the area. T. G. Masaryk, the first president of
Czechoslovakia, was amongst the celebrities that visited the
terraces situated above the Moldau River.
The speed with which the studios were constructed was, in
typical Havel style, staggering – the groundbreaking ceremony took
place on November 23, 1931 and the first day of shooting was
already scheduled for January 25, 1933. On that day, filming of
“Vrazda v Ostrovni ulici” (“Murder in Ostrovni Ulice”), directed by
Svatopluk Innemann, started at the brand new studios. Max Urban,
who by then was well established and experienced in the film
industry, became the studios’ main designer. Vilem Ritterhain,
another architect, worked together with Urban on the interiors and
sound stage spaces. During the project, they were able to utilize
the most current experiences from foreign film production studios
and thus successfully built what were the most contemporary film
studios in Europe. In spite of the fact that they were paying off
high debts from constructing and furnishing the studios, the Havels
became the foremost patrons of Czech film. Over the course of the
1930s, a number of pictures, which today belong amongst the golden
foundations of Czech cinematography, were created in their
studios.
The fateful year of 1939 and the occupation of the Czech lands
brought with it the confiscation of the Barrandov studios, which
became wartime plunder for the Germans. Their own film productions,
guided by the systematic propaganda of Joseph Goebbels, were able
to take great advantage of the ideally equipped studios in order to
make films that suited Nazi tastes. Barrandov was forced away from
Czech entrepreneurs and made available to the victors without the
consent of Milos Havel and the company’s executive board. The
Germans gradually increased their share in the company in a manner
whereby the original Czech company – AB Corporation – was
completely dissolved and the newly established German Pragfilm
arose in its stead. This company provided the Third Reich’s
propagandists and creators with the capacity they required,
especially during a period when film production in Germany was
threatened by Allied Forces air raids. In addition to the original
“Havel” Old Halls already standing at the Barrandov studios, the
Germans constructed three more sound stages, called the New Halls.
Over the course of the war, 82 films were produced there.
During the Prague Uprising in May 1945, the Barrandov Studios
were fought for as well. In the skirmish, several wooden buildings
were damaged and caught on fire, but that did not halt the
productions that were in progress. After the liberation, the
studios were not returned to the original owners. As early as 1944,
on the basis of a proposal put forth by leftist-oriented Czech
filmmakers, a letter requesting that the company be nationalized
was sent to London, where the Czech government-in-exile was based.
By signing Edict No. 50, the president acceded to this request.
Milos Havel, the former film magnate and entrepreneur, settled in
Munich and never returned to his native land.
After 1948, when Czechoslovak State Film was nationalized on the
basis of a governmental decree, the well-equipped Barrandov, which
remained almost untouched by the war, became the most important
foundation for renewing national cinematography. From the plethora
of films that originated at the studios during the forty years of
communist rule, many propagandistic works have long been forgotten.
But several jewels of postwar cinematography, culminating in the
1960s, with the emergence of the “Czech New Wave” continue to live
on.
As was the case in France, the younger generation came to the
forefront of the creative effort and significantly affected
European, and even international, cinematography. This included
directors such as Milos Forman,
Vera
Chytilova, Jiri Menzel,
Pavel Juracek,
Jan Nemec, and
Evald Schorm.Other
significant names from this period are Karel
Kachyna, Frantisek Vlacil,
Vojtech Jasny, and
Jaromil Jires, but
these directors are not associated with the New Wave.
Barrandov films,
“Obchod
na korze – The Store on Main Street” (1965,
Jan Kadar and
Elmar Klos,
directors) and
“Ostre
sledovane vlaky – Closely Observed Trains” (1966, Jiri Menzel,
director) received Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. Forman’s
“Lasky
jedne plavovlasky – The Loves of a Blonde” (1965) and
“Hori, ma panenko –
Firemen’s Ball” (1967) were nominated for an Oscar. A number of
European awards, presented in addition to those from the American
Film Academy, increased the visibility of Barrandov Studios and
started to lure international crews to Prague. Milos Forman’s team
for “Amadeus” is the
leading example. Barbra Streisand
also directed her film“Yentl” in Prague.
Sergei Bondarchuk,
who received an Oscar for his film
“Voyna i mir – War and
Peace”, completed his megafilm “Boris
Godunov” at Barrandov.
For the production of Czech pictures, Barrandov Film Studios
implemented the American model and created several genre-specific
production groups. The studios employed their own screenwriters.
The acting division employed only the best actors and registered
hundreds of extras. During the 1980s, the studios produced about
thirty feature films each year and also provided the majority of
programs broadcast by Czechoslovak Television. During that period,
up to two thousand people from various professions were employed by
the studios. Filmmaking was fully subsidized by the state.
After Czechoslovakia was occupied by the armed forces of the
Warsaw Pact countries in 1968, few significant works were created.
Several directors, such as Ivan Passer, Milos
Forman, and Jan Nemec opted to emigrate and fashioned a significant
reputation for themselves abroad. Films for children and youth
played a key role in showcasing Barrandov creations. Jiri
Hanibal’s film
“Dedecek, Kylian a ja” (“Grandpa, Kylian, and
Me”) was awarded the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival. An
adaptation of Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,”
transposed to Czechoslovakia in the 1920s, was released under the
title of “Pani
kluci” (“Young Gentlemen”) and received prizes at many
festivals. German-speaking countries were overwhelmed by
Jindrich Polak’s
television series “Pan Tau
(“Pan Tau auf Reisen”) and also revived Vaclav
Vorlicek’s fairytale
“Tri
orisky pro Popelku – Three Wishes for Cinderella” at
Christmastime. The production of filmed fairytales for theatrical
distribution became a singular European rarity.
The quality of Czech films continued to flourish and make their
mark around the world. Both
“Vesnicko ma strediskova – My Sweet Little
Village” (1987), directed by Jiri Menzel, and
“Obecna
skola – The Elementary School” (1991), the premier film of
Jan Sverak (who
later received an Oscar for his film “Kolja –
Kolya”), were nominated for Oscars in the
USA.Irena Pavlaskova’s
debut film “Cas
sluhu – The Time of Servants” (1990), brought home three awards
from top festivals and an additional ten prizes from competitions
around the world.
With the downfall of communism in 1989, dramatic changes took
place within the operations of the studios. State subsidies ceased
being directed towards films, the studios at Barrandov were
gradually privatized, and thus began their new era within an
environment of renewed democracy. More…
For eighty-five years, Barrandov Studios has continued to remain
a place that lures both Czech as well as International filmmakers.
We are proud to be part of such a rich tradition.