Vodní lyrika (Water Lyrics) - three cuts from the film works of Václav Krška from the point of view of the element of water
May 4, 1998 Řeka čaruje / The River Charms (1945)
May 5, 1998 Měsíc nad řekou / Moon under the River (1953)
May 6, 1998 Jarní vody / Spring Water (1968)
Václav Krška (born 7.10.1900, Písek, died 17.11.1969, Prague)
Born in Písek to an inn-keeping family, he was always fascinated by puppet theatre as a child. His father died when he was thirteen years old, and the remarriage of his mother led him to the countryside where he lived in a mill, and where he also took care of this mill after that man died. Until his fourteenth year, he intensively participated in the local cultural life; he wrote poetry, as well as prose; he acted with the local amateur theatre group - still surrounded by his native countryside, which was also the countryside of Fráňa Šrámek. In 1939, Krška adapted Šrámek´s Stříbrný vítr (The Silver Wind) for the new opened theatre in Písek. Based on his novel, Odcházeti s podzimem (Leaving with Autumn), he wrote the script to the Čáp´s film Ohnivé léto (The Fiery Summer), thus beginning his collaborative film career. The scripts to the films Noční motýl (Night Butterfly) and Kluci na řece (The Boys on the River) followed.
At the end of the war, Krška debuted as a director with the lyric comedy Řeka čaruje (The River Charms).
Following the war, Krška created some biographic films - Housle a sen (The Violin and Dream) based on the life of the famous Czech violinist Josef Slavík. Then he made Mikoláš Aleš. The film Mladá léta (The Young Years) was motivated by the life of Alois Jirásek and finally Z mého života (From My Life) was dedicated to Smetana.
Amongst these, he completed two films with Šrámek - Stříbrný vítr (The Silver Wind) and Měsíc nad řekou (The Moon Under the River), which are his " best films".
In addition to adapting theatrical plays (Legenda o lásce / The Legend about Love; Labakan) and historical film Revoluční rok 1848 (The Revolutionary Year 1848), Krška tried to make political films at the end of the fifties. In 1961, he made Kde řeky mají slunce (Where the rivers have suns) based on the novel Nejkrásnější svět (The Most Beautiful World) by Marie Majerová. In the sixties, he also made the comedies Komedie s klikou (The Comedy with a Handle), Poslední růže od Casanovy (The Last Rose from Casanova), Dívka s třemi velbloudy (The Girl with Three Camels), and to his lyrical part he returns with his last film Jarní vody (The Spring´s Water) based on the works of Turgeněv.
(from the documents of the National Film Archive)