On Saturday afternoon, the Pupp Cinema belonged to two prominent women of Czech cinematography. Despite directing only the playful film Murdering the Devil, Ester Krumbachová became an integral part of the Czechoslovak New Wave and contributed significantly to many subsequent films as a screenwriter and costume designer. Her unique directorial achievement was presented to the festival audience in a new, digitally restored form.
After she received a standing ovation, Jiřina Bohdalová, who played the lead role in the movie, recalled her collaboration with the director: “She actually did everything in the movie. When she told me what dress I was going to wear, she designed it on the spot. I don't know if she saw herself in my character, but I remember her putting her head next to mine in the makeup room to make me look like her.” The ninety-three-year-old actress, seemingly a victim of her film husband Vladimír Menšík, then turned to the men in the audience. “I must tell you, gentlemen, that if anyone saw right down your throats and into your souls, it was Ester. She exposed you in such a way that I still look for cut-out monologues from the film, because I haven’t heard anything so funny and fitting ever since.”
The actress, who has probably visited the KVIFF more times than all the viewers combined, then extended her wishes to the audience: “I wonder if the film will still say something and if it will say anything to me after fifty-four years. I wish you an enjoyable time.”
