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František Čáp

January 01, 1970

František Čáp (7 December 1913 – 12 January 1972), also known as Franz Cap in Germany, was a Czech and later a Yugoslav film director and screenwriter. He directed 32 films between 1939 and 1970. Having created Slovene film classics such as Vesna, Ne čakaj na maj and Our Car, he is also one of the most popular directors of early Slovene cinema in 1950s and the 1960s.[1]

František Čáp
Čáp with Metka Gabrijelčič in 1953 at the Vesna premiere in Belgrade.
Born(1913-12-07)7 December 1913
Čachovice, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Died12 January 1972(1972-01-12) (aged 58)
Ankaran, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Occupation(s)Film director
Screenwriter
Years active1937–1948 (Czechoslovakia)
1950–1970 (West Germany)
1953–1965 (Yugoslavia)

Life edit

Čáp was born in Čachovice (now in central Czech Republic).[2] As an already established professional, he moved to Ljubljana in 1952, following an invitation by Branimir Tuma, director of Triglav Film.[3] In 1957, he moved to Portorož, a coastal town in southwestern Slovenia, where he lived until his death.[2]

Work edit

Prior to his arrival in Yugoslavia, Čáp was praised as the young star of Czech cinema. During World War II he directed a dozen light romantic dramas and melodramas, among them the internationally acclaimed Nocturnal Butterfly which won a prize at the Venice film festival, and Men Without Wings which won a prize for Best Director in Cannes. His last Czechoslovak film The White Darkness, his personal favorite, put him in conflict with the communist authorities. After the criticism his film received by workers jury at Zlín film festival, Čáp called the jury "morons who don't understand [his] films". This didn't go well in communist Czechoslovakia and he was banned from directing movies. He fled to West Germany, where he directed three films, including All Clues Lead to Berlin which was distributed to many countries. He arrived in Yugoslavia by invitation of the director of a Slovene film production company Branimir Tuma, to help in the development of the Slovene film industry in the 1950s.[4]

In the 1950s and 1960s Čap directed five films for Triglav film and another six co-productions and non-Slovene productions. Čáp's first Yugoslav film, romantic comedy Vesna (1953), had elements of Heimatfilm and pre-World War II Czech and Austrian melodrama, and proved highly successful both artistically and commercially, as did its sequel Ne čakaj na maj (1957).[3] Vesna remains one of the most popular Slovene classics. It took the place of the first commercial film - and the first comedy - in Slovene cinema, and was precisely the urban, modern and technically exquisite film that Triglav film had hoped for when it employed Čap.[5]

Čap's second Slovene film was a war drama Trenutki odločitve (Moments of Decision, 1955) about the urgency of reconciliation between partisans and white guards, a topic with which he produced the first censored film in Slovenia.[5]

During his "Yugoslav era", Čap did not only engage in Slovene productions, but in various other acclaimed productions and co-productions. He directed Am Anfang war es Sünde (Sin / Greh, 1954, Saphir Film) and the romantic drama La ragazza della salina (Sand, Love and Salt / Kruh in sol, 1957), which featured Marcello Mastroianni. For Bosna film, he directed a drama about juvenile delinquency Vrata ostaju otvorena (The Door Remains Open, 1959), introducing Milena Dravić, one of the leading film stars in Yugoslavia, in her very first film role, and another comedy Srešćemo se večeras (Meet You Tonight, 1962).

In 1956 Čáp shot Die Geierwally (The Vulture Wally), based on the novel by Wilhelmine von Hillern, in Germany, while X-25 javlja ("X-25 Reports", 1960), a World War II spy thriller set in Zagreb, saw extensive international theatrical release as well.[3] However, after his poorly received comedy Naš avto (Our Car, 1962), Čáp was unable to find work in Yugoslavia and he turned to direct for television. He was engaged in directing a TV series and two TV films for German and Austrian televisions.[3] In Slovenia where he lived, though, he was only able to participate in one more production, directing a short film Piran (1965).

Criticism and reception edit

Contemporary Slovene film criticism widely accepts that the 5 films that František Čap directed in Slovene, Vesna, Trenutki odločitve, Ne čakaj na maj, X 25 Reports and Our Car, introduced a Hollywood type of narrative and cosmopolitan appearance to 1950's Slovene cinema. Though struggling with negative criticism in his own time, today Čáp is praised as a craftsman who helped the undeveloped Slovene and Yugoslav cinema – at the time infected with dilettante technical standards, problematic focus on local issues and stiff literary adaptations – to rise to the level of an exquisite craft with universal intelligibility.[5]

Some critics viewed it as "genre cinema" — as Čáp mostly directed comedies, thrillers, and melodramas — though these do not correspond strictly to genre rules. "Mainstream cinema" is a term that more accurately describes its aim to attract the audience by means of a classical, easily intelligible narrative, and by emphasizing the story and dramatic structure, not so much qualities of cinema as an art form.

The negative reviews of Čáp's work occurred mostly during the times of 1960's, 70's and 80's Yugoslavian film criticism. The orthodox communist reviewers saw in it a bourgeois threat to socialist values, and a conservative return to the middle class phantom concepts (e.g. The idea of innocent romantic love).[5] They also minded Čáp's comedies’ prevailing themes of spoiled youth and their sexual awakening in Vesna and Ne čakaj na maj.[6]

The name object of early criticism, however, was the misrepresentation (or lack of representation) of Slovene culture in Čáp's cinema, especially in the hugely popular comedies. A number of reviewers saw Čáp as a foreigner who has never assimilated to Slovene culture. They resented that the films were not specific enough and could be set anywhere in Central Europe. These reviews seem traditionalist and xenophobic from contemporary point of view. Contemporary Slovene film theorists have largely praised Čáp's "foreignness" or "otherness", reasoning that his ignorance for regional values and conflicts has actually helped him to maintain the necessary objective distance and his particular sense of film direction and storytelling.[5]

Čáp and Slovene language edit

Contrary to complaints regarding the generic nature of the films, it is well recognized that Čáp contributed drastically to the adaptation of the Slovene language for cinematic use. The dialogues were fluent and had substance, there was plenty of wordplays, verbal comedy, urban slang and authentic regional accents. The dialogues from Čap's comedies came into general usage and became items of universal joking across generations and nation. Whereas Slovene in pre-Čap cinema had not functioned well, Čáp invented a slang liberated from constraints of purism and theatricality. Thus the director, while being attacked for directing un-Slovene films by many reviewers, in fact enriched Slovene language and culture.[7]

Selected filmography edit

Awards edit

References edit

  1. ^ Richard Taylor, Nancy Wood, Julian Graffy, Dina Iordanova (2019). The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema. Bloomsbury. p. 1964. ISBN 978-1838718497.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b "František Čap – režiser" [František Čap – the Director]. Zgodovinski portal [The History Portal] (in Slovenian). Zgodovina.si. 6 December 2016. ISSN 2463-8315.
  3. ^ a b c d Polimac, Nenad (5 June 2010). "Povratak Františeka Čapa, prvog gay šikaniranog filmaša u Jugoslaviji". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. ^ Vrdlovec, Zdenko (2013), Zgodovina filma na slovenskem, Ljubljana: UMco.
  5. ^ a b c d e Stanković, Peter (2013), Čapovi slovenski igrani celovečerci, KINO! 21.
  6. ^ Štefančič, Marcel (2005): Na svoji zemlji. Zgodovina slovenskega filma, Ljubljana: UMco.
  7. ^ Krečič, Jela (2013), “Vesna in Ne čakaj na maj: kako smo v sivini realsocialističnega vsakdana prišli do komičnega duha”, KINO! 21.
  8. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Men Without Wings". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2 January 2009.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
františek, Čáp, december, 1913, january, 1972, also, known, franz, germany, czech, later, yugoslav, film, director, screenwriter, directed, films, between, 1939, 1970, having, created, slovene, film, classics, such, vesna, čakaj, also, most, popular, directors. Frantisek Cap 7 December 1913 12 January 1972 also known as Franz Cap in Germany was a Czech and later a Yugoslav film director and screenwriter He directed 32 films between 1939 and 1970 Having created Slovene film classics such as Vesna Ne cakaj na maj and Our Car he is also one of the most popular directors of early Slovene cinema in 1950s and the 1960s 1 Frantisek CapCap with Metka Gabrijelcic in 1953 at the Vesna premiere in Belgrade Born 1913 12 07 7 December 1913Cachovice Bohemia Austria HungaryDied12 January 1972 1972 01 12 aged 58 Ankaran SR Slovenia SFR YugoslaviaOccupation s Film directorScreenwriterYears active1937 1948 Czechoslovakia 1950 1970 West Germany 1953 1965 Yugoslavia Contents 1 Life 2 Work 3 Criticism and reception 3 1 Cap and Slovene language 4 Selected filmography 5 Awards 6 References 7 External linksLife editCap was born in Cachovice now in central Czech Republic 2 As an already established professional he moved to Ljubljana in 1952 following an invitation by Branimir Tuma director of Triglav Film 3 In 1957 he moved to Portoroz a coastal town in southwestern Slovenia where he lived until his death 2 Work editPrior to his arrival in Yugoslavia Cap was praised as the young star of Czech cinema During World War II he directed a dozen light romantic dramas and melodramas among them the internationally acclaimed Nocturnal Butterfly which won a prize at the Venice film festival and Men Without Wings which won a prize for Best Director in Cannes His last Czechoslovak film The White Darkness his personal favorite put him in conflict with the communist authorities After the criticism his film received by workers jury at Zlin film festival Cap called the jury morons who don t understand his films This didn t go well in communist Czechoslovakia and he was banned from directing movies He fled to West Germany where he directed three films including All Clues Lead to Berlin which was distributed to many countries He arrived in Yugoslavia by invitation of the director of a Slovene film production company Branimir Tuma to help in the development of the Slovene film industry in the 1950s 4 In the 1950s and 1960s Cap directed five films for Triglav film and another six co productions and non Slovene productions Cap s first Yugoslav film romantic comedy Vesna 1953 had elements of Heimatfilm and pre World War II Czech and Austrian melodrama and proved highly successful both artistically and commercially as did its sequel Ne cakaj na maj 1957 3 Vesna remains one of the most popular Slovene classics It took the place of the first commercial film and the first comedy in Slovene cinema and was precisely the urban modern and technically exquisite film that Triglav film had hoped for when it employed Cap 5 Cap s second Slovene film was a war drama Trenutki odlocitve Moments of Decision 1955 about the urgency of reconciliation between partisans and white guards a topic with which he produced the first censored film in Slovenia 5 During his Yugoslav era Cap did not only engage in Slovene productions but in various other acclaimed productions and co productions He directed Am Anfang war es Sunde Sin Greh 1954 Saphir Film and the romantic drama La ragazza della salina Sand Love and Salt Kruh in sol 1957 which featured Marcello Mastroianni For Bosna film he directed a drama about juvenile delinquency Vrata ostaju otvorena The Door Remains Open 1959 introducing Milena Dravic one of the leading film stars in Yugoslavia in her very first film role and another comedy Srescemo se veceras Meet You Tonight 1962 In 1956 Cap shot Die Geierwally The Vulture Wally based on the novel by Wilhelmine von Hillern in Germany while X 25 javlja X 25 Reports 1960 a World War II spy thriller set in Zagreb saw extensive international theatrical release as well 3 However after his poorly received comedy Nas avto Our Car 1962 Cap was unable to find work in Yugoslavia and he turned to direct for television He was engaged in directing a TV series and two TV films for German and Austrian televisions 3 In Slovenia where he lived though he was only able to participate in one more production directing a short film Piran 1965 Criticism and reception editContemporary Slovene film criticism widely accepts that the 5 films that Frantisek Cap directed in Slovene Vesna Trenutki odlocitve Ne cakaj na maj X 25 Reports and Our Car introduced a Hollywood type of narrative and cosmopolitan appearance to 1950 s Slovene cinema Though struggling with negative criticism in his own time today Cap is praised as a craftsman who helped the undeveloped Slovene and Yugoslav cinema at the time infected with dilettante technical standards problematic focus on local issues and stiff literary adaptations to rise to the level of an exquisite craft with universal intelligibility 5 Some critics viewed it as genre cinema as Cap mostly directed comedies thrillers and melodramas though these do not correspond strictly to genre rules Mainstream cinema is a term that more accurately describes its aim to attract the audience by means of a classical easily intelligible narrative and by emphasizing the story and dramatic structure not so much qualities of cinema as an art form The negative reviews of Cap s work occurred mostly during the times of 1960 s 70 s and 80 s Yugoslavian film criticism The orthodox communist reviewers saw in it a bourgeois threat to socialist values and a conservative return to the middle class phantom concepts e g The idea of innocent romantic love 5 They also minded Cap s comedies prevailing themes of spoiled youth and their sexual awakening in Vesna and Ne cakaj na maj 6 The name object of early criticism however was the misrepresentation or lack of representation of Slovene culture in Cap s cinema especially in the hugely popular comedies A number of reviewers saw Cap as a foreigner who has never assimilated to Slovene culture They resented that the films were not specific enough and could be set anywhere in Central Europe These reviews seem traditionalist and xenophobic from contemporary point of view Contemporary Slovene film theorists have largely praised Cap s foreignness or otherness reasoning that his ignorance for regional values and conflicts has actually helped him to maintain the necessary objective distance and his particular sense of film direction and storytelling 5 Cap and Slovene language edit Contrary to complaints regarding the generic nature of the films it is well recognized that Cap contributed drastically to the adaptation of the Slovene language for cinematic use The dialogues were fluent and had substance there was plenty of wordplays verbal comedy urban slang and authentic regional accents The dialogues from Cap s comedies came into general usage and became items of universal joking across generations and nation Whereas Slovene in pre Cap cinema had not functioned well Cap invented a slang liberated from constraints of purism and theatricality Thus the director while being attacked for directing un Slovene films by many reviewers in fact enriched Slovene language and culture 7 Selected filmography editA Step into the Darkness Czech Krok do tmy 1937 screenwriter only Virginity Czech Panenstvi 1937 screenwriter only Fiery Summer Czech Ohnive leto 1939 Grandmother Czech Babicka 1940 Jan Cimbura 1941 Nocturnal Butterfly Czech Nocni motyl 1941 The Dancer 1943 Mist on the Moors Czech Mlhy na Blatech 1944 The Girl from Beskydy Mountains Czech Devcica z Beskyd 1944 Men Without Wings Czech Muzi bez kridel 1946 Sign of the Anchor Czech Znameni kotvy 1947 Muzikant 1948 White Darkness 1948 Crown Jewels German Kronjuwelen 1950 All Clues Lead to Berlin German Die Spur fuhrt nach Berlin 1952 Vesna 1953 The Beginning Was Sin German Am Anfang war es Sunde 1954 Moments of Decision Slovene Trenutki odlocitve 1955 The Vulture Wally German Die Geierwally 1956 Don t Whisper Slovene Ne cakaj na maj 1957 Sand Love and Salt Slovene Kruh in sol 1957 The Door Remains Open Serbo Croatian Vrata ostaju otvorena 1957 X 25 Reports Slovene X 25 javlja 1960 Meet You Tonight Serbo Croatian Srescemo se veceras 1962 Our Car Slovene Nas avto 1962 Mafia Die ehrenwerte Gesellschaft 1966 TV miniseries Rinaldo Rinaldini de 1968 1969 TV series Awards editNocturnal Butterfly Targa di segnalazione at 1941 Venice Film Festival Men Without Wings Grand Prix at 1946 Cannes Film Festival 8 Vesna The Critics Choice Award at the 1954 Pula Film Festival Moments of Decision Big Golden Arena for Best Film at the 1955 Pula Film FestivalReferences edit Richard Taylor Nancy Wood Julian Graffy Dina Iordanova 2019 The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema Bloomsbury p 1964 ISBN 978 1838718497 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b Frantisek Cap reziser Frantisek Cap the Director Zgodovinski portal The History Portal in Slovenian Zgodovina si 6 December 2016 ISSN 2463 8315 a b c d Polimac Nenad 5 June 2010 Povratak Frantiseka Capa prvog gay sikaniranog filmasa u Jugoslaviji Jutarnji list in Croatian Retrieved 3 September 2020 Vrdlovec Zdenko 2013 Zgodovina filma na slovenskem Ljubljana UMco a b c d e Stankovic Peter 2013 Capovi slovenski igrani celovecerci KINO 21 Stefancic Marcel 2005 Na svoji zemlji Zgodovina slovenskega filma Ljubljana UMco Krecic Jela 2013 Vesna in Ne cakaj na maj kako smo v sivini realsocialisticnega vsakdana prisli do komicnega duha KINO 21 Festival de Cannes Men Without Wings festival cannes com Retrieved 2 January 2009 External links editFrantisek Cap at IMDb Frantisek Cap at AllMovie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frantisek Cap amp oldid 1216623874, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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