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Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker

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Wikipedia article




'Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker' is a 1987 Czechoslovak fantasy film directed by Zdenk Troka and starring Michaela Kuklov and Jan Potmil. It is based on a fairy tale by Czech writer Jan Drda.

The film was shot in castles in Bohemia and Moravia. It has been screened at film festivals and is considered a classic by the Czech national broadcaster TV Nova.

Plot



Two witches - mother and daughter - have killed the cockerel that usually heralds the dawn. As a result, the Sun doesn't rise. The Good Witch of the Sun seeks justice from the King. He rules in her favour and incurs the wrath of the Evil Witch. She casts a spell forecasting that the King's beautiful daughter, Princess Jasnnka, will marry a shoemaker. Enraged that he will not now be able to marry her off to a man of royal or noble birth, her father, the king, imprisons her in a tower of the castle to ensure she doesn't meet anyone without his knowledge.

However, to make her spell work, the Evil Witch summons an Evil Spirit who tricks Jra, a shoemaker, to design and make a pair of leather wings that allow him to fly.

The shoemaker wears the wings and flies over fields and forests, finally landing on the castle tower where he meets the imprisoned Princess Jasnnka. The two immediately fall in love, with Jra and Jasnnka then eloping to the horror of the castle staff who believe that Jra is Lucifer. Jasnnka and Jra marry. At first, the two enemy witches (mother and daughter) are delighted, but when they see how happy the young couple are, they are filled with rage and become determined to shatter their happiness.



First, they force Jasnnka to make a mess in the couple's kitchen, expecting Jra will beat her, but when he arrives he finds it funny. Next, disguised as wealthy ladies, the witch and her daughter visit the market where the Princess sells the shoes made by her beloved husband shoemaker. Casting a spell, they change her into a dove, and imprison her in their dungeon.

The Shoemaker sets off to find her with only one of her slippers to help him. The Good Witch of the Sun comes to his aid, gives him a ring with magical powers, and guides him to the imprisoned Princess. After a spectacular fight with the Evil Spirit, the Princess and the Shoemaker escape.



But the witches had also concocted an evil potion to erase memory that Jasnenka unwittingly gives to Jra who falls victim to it and sends him to sleep. The Princess is then captured by the King's soldiers, and returned to the castle, where the King makes plans to speedily marry her off to one of three noble princes.

In the nick of time the Shoemaker, who recovered from the effects of the potion and succeeded in remembering his identity, interrupts the wedding and he and the Princess fly off together to live happily ever after.Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation Entertainment & TV Guide supplement to the Gibraltar Chronicle; 10/04/1991; Page 7

Cast



*Michaela Kuklov as Princess Jasnnka

*Jan Potmil as Jra, the shoemaker

*Lubor Toko as the King, Jasnenka's father

*Antonie Hegerlkov as the nanny

*Helena Rikov as the witch

*Yvetta Blanaroviov as ernava, the witch

*Oto evk as imbuch

*Jana Preissov as the voice of the Sun

*Zdenk Podhrsk as the black prince

Production



is known for his fairy tale films.

Director Zdenk Troka made several fairy tale films, often following patterns where a young man ventures from a rural area to find love and defeat corrupt enemies. His other films in this vein include 'The Loveliest Riddle', 'Princess from the Mill' and its sequel.

For 'Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker', Troka and screenwriter Karel Steigerwald adapted a fairy story by Czech writer and Communist Party member Jan Drda. It was produced by Barrandov Studios, based in Prague. Some of the film was shot in the castles Bouzov and Vtkovec, the latter of which is close to Holany. For the scene where Jira rescues Jasnenka from the tower, an explosion and fire occurred during filming, frightening the lead actors. Troka noted Michaela Kuklov, who was 17 at the time, wept in fear. Jira's wings were based on a 15th-century drawing by artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Release



The film was released in theatres in Czechoslovakia on 1 December 1987. Its English language titles include 'Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker', and 'Princess Jasna and the Flying Cobbler'. In September 2002, it was screened in a series called the Week of Czech and Slovak Films in Pretoria, South Africa.'Report on the Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic', Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Prague 2003, p. 211. A repeat showing occurred during Film Week in Cape Town during September and October 2002.

The film was screened in a Contemporary Czech Film international festival in Zimbabwe in October and November 2002.'Report on the Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic', p. 219. It afterwards had a DVD release in the Czech Republic on 1 March 2004.

Reception



The German film lexicon 'Zweitausendeins' complimented the imaginative design of 'Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker'. Author Peter Harnes wrote that Troka's films all fell short of the work of Ji Trnka and Jan vankmajer. In 2013, the Czech TV Nova called the film a favourite.

References



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