Vesna

Yugoslavia

1953

96 Min

Black and White

Slovenian

Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
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CAST Metka Gabrijelčič, Franek Trefalt, Janez Čuk, Jure Furlan, Stane Sever, Elvira Kralj, Frane Milčinski

One of the best loved of all Slovenian films—the national film award is actually called the Vesna in the film’s honor—this surprisingly gentle college comedy was a huge hit that helped put Slovenia’s just founded film studio Triglav Film on the cinematic map. A group of college students spend their days looking for ways to get out of studying for their upcoming finals. They can’t help but notice Vesna, the pretty daughter of an especially tough mathematics professor. When Vesna discovers that one of them, Samo, was courting her only to catch a glimpse of her father’s final exam, she breaks off the relationship. But Samo is not so readily deterred. Although made in the newly Socialist Yugoslavia, the film does not hint at class struggle: everyone is fashionably dressed, eating well and living in well-appointed houses or apartments. Veteran Czech director Frantisek Cap, who had immigrated to Yugoslavia after Tito’s break with Stalin, went on to have a successful career in his adopted country.

Director

František Čáp

František Čáp (7 December 1913 – 12 January 1972), also known as “Franz Cap” in Germany, was a Czech film director and screenwriter. He directed 32 films between 1939 and 1970.

In 1941 at the Venice Film Festival he won a commendation from the jury for his film Noční motýl (The Moth). At the 1946 Cannes Film Festival he won the Grand Prize for his film Muži bez křídel (Men without Wings).

As an already established professional, Čáp moved to Ljubljana in 1952, following an invitation by Branimir Tuma, director of Triglav Film. His 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). In 1954 and 1955 at the Pula Film Festival he won the Big Golden Arena for Best Film.

In 1956 Čáp shot one of his best-known films, Die Geierwally (Wally the Vulture), based on the novel by Wilhelmine von… read more