Romance for Bugle (1967) User Reviews (3)

a film poetry based on the written poetry

[peter-209 · 10/10 · 22 August 1999]

There probably are not many movies whose screenplay is written by a poet based on his own poem. Well, this is the case. Frankly, I would never expect Mr. Vavra, who is best known for his historical epic on the Husite uprising in Bohemia and for some socialist realism before and after that, to make a film like this. The movie is extremely poetic, but at the same time, the visuals are firmly grounded in reality and the buzzing of insects in the outdoors is omnipresent. The plot is simple: a student is spending a summer back in his home village, taking care of his grandfather on his deathbed while dealing with his own "growing up". The movie allegedly contains the most erotic scene in Czechoslovak cinema - when the youngster watches a woman bathing in the river.

The title translates into English as "A Romance for Fluegelhorn". Ever since I saw the film for the first time, I have liked that instrument.

Countryside Fair Affair

[drbagrov · 15 January 2009]

A very unusual and inspiring film by the prominent Czech director, who had the misfortune to live and work under the Communist regime.And yet...We know so many Russian,Polish,Bulgarian films of the greatest artistic value made and produced in the Evil Empire camp in spite of the brutal and relentless censorship, in spite of the horrendous ideological pressure. The film is very simple:a touching bitter-sweet summer-time love story of a young man (played with vibrant tenderness by Jaromir Hanzlik)and a girl from the travelling merry-go-round team. The boy is coming of age and is also interested - quite naturally- in the mature charm of another, older local woman.But his heart is stolen by the young and innocent girl. It smacks of a cheap melodrama... but there is a twist: Voita (the boy's name) has to take care of his dying grandfather. And here comes the clash between responsibility and passion.What will prevail in the boy's heart? The film breathes of poetic images, visual and musical.The hero's flashback of his first love echoes with our own recollections of our youth. It is an amazing and unexpected gem of a film left to us (over 40 years ago) by the patriarch of the Czech cinema.Bravo, Maestro!

"He still sees his old friends who are dead."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 10/10 · 17 April 2016]

Looking online for clips of the interesting Czech New Wave film The Loves of a Blonde (also reviewed),I stumbled on a Czech film which appeared to have almost been completely forgotten about,which led to me getting ready to witness Bugle's romance.

View on the film:

Serenading the title to Jirí Srnka's shimmering score,co- writer/(along with Frantisek Hrubín) director Otakar Vávra & cinematographer Andrej Barla drape the title in a richly melancholy atmosphere. Opening with Vojta looking at Terina's grave,the writers hang wonderfully the impending tragedy across the entire movie,with Vávra and Barla elegant close-ups and long engulfing shadows capturing the sorrow of love that Vojta and Terina both have.

Cutting some sly commentary in on how distinct individuals are pressed down to conform and follow "tradition", Vávra & Hrubín adaptation of Hrubín's own poem keeps a striking sense of poetic beauty as the beating heart of the title,with the passage of time for Terina and Vojta's romance having a whirlwind flow that gives the title an exquisite sonnet mood. Circling Terina and Vojta with rival lovers and families on both sides,the writers brilliant place a warm sense of regret within each family,but also an inability to free themselves from tradition.

Bringing light to Vojta's unfading love for Terina, Jaromír Hanzlík gives an incredible performance as Vojta,whose innocent,powerfully love for Terina is destroyed by the long lingering shadows of "tradition."

Making her second film appearance, Zuzana Cigánová gives an excellent performance as Terina,thanks to Cigánová giving Terina a care-free love style that Cigánová pulls away to show a startling thoughtfulness over her feelings for Vojta,as Terina and Vojta find romance for bugle.