Marta

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2006, 77 min
Section: Czech Films 2006-2007

Synopsis

17-year-old Marek lives with his father in a house in the middle of the forest. He is trying to avoid being called up. The war raging elsewhere in the world eventually finds its way here with the arrival of a wounded enemy spy whom Marek hides in the attic against his father’s wishes. While the stranger thinks only of leaving to fulfil her mission, for the young man, this is the first woman to fire up his protective male instincts. However, she poses a threat to the father and his relationship with his hitherto boyish, obedient son, without whom he cannot, as an invalid, do without. The tense situation intensifies… This minimalist psychological drama by debuting Marta Nováková presents a stirring tale of a private war which ignites in the souls of two men because of one woman. The narrative is set outside time and space and, in its thematic and formal singularity, is reminiscent of the films of the Czech New Wave – in particular Coach to Vienna (1966) by Karel Kachyňa, the director’s teacher at FAMU. The film was a hit at numerous international film festivals.

About the director

Marta Nováková (b. 1975, Slavičín) graduated from the Zlín Film School with an adaptation of Chekhov’s tale Sleepy, 1996. During the years 1997-2005 she studied film direction at Prague’s FAMU, also under Karel Kachyňa, with whom she spent almost two years writing the screenplay for her graduate film Marta, which was distributed in cinemas in August 2006. She spent six months at the VGIK in Moscow and she is currently completing a course in Russian studies at Charles University in Prague. Filmography: short student films Sleepy (1996), Honour to Work, 1998, Fate of Freedom, 1998 and Blazing Heat, 1999, the TV short Success Never Comes Easy, 1998, short features The Best Reader in the World, 1999, Russian Soul, 2000 and At Night / The Sentimental Story of a Dreamer, 2000; Marta (2006). She also made the video clip for the song “A Million Red Roses” (2002) by Russian singer Alla Pugacheva.