Medieval (film)

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Medieval
Medieval Film Poster.jpg
English poster
Directed byPetr Jákl
Screenplay byPetr Jákl
Story byPetr Jakl Sr.
Produced byCassian Elwes
Starring
CinematographyJesper Tøffner
Edited bySteven Rosenblum
Music byPhilip Klein[2]
Production
company
WOG FILM s.r.o.
Distributed byBioscop[1]
Release date
  • 2022 (2022)[1]
CountryCzech Republic
LanguageEnglish
Budget500 million KČ[3]

Medieval (Jan Žižka or Warrior of God[4]) is an upcoming Czech action historical drama film by Petr Jákl.[5][6] It is about the life of Jan Žižka, a Bohemian military commander who never lost a battle. The film is set prior to the Hussite Wars (1419–1434), when Žižka was young. It tells the story of how Žižka became a famous military commander.[7] It is the most expensive Czech film ever made.[8][9][10]

Plot[]

The plot of the film starts sometime in the end of the 14th century, when Wenceslaus IV is the king of Bohemia and Roman emperor at the same time. Wenceslas has received the throne after his father Charles IV, but his reign is not as successful and the kingdom seems to fall apart under his weak rule. The most powerful nobleman in the country, Henry III of Rosenberg, keeps seizing properties of lower nobility one after another, until one of them starts resisting. The brave hero is young Jan Žižka, a knight and mercenary, future leader of the Hussite army. Rosenberg had almost all his family killed and Žižka wants a revenge. Rosenberg's fiancée Katherine falls in love with the warrior and hands him the text between Rosenberg and the League of Lords planning to dethrone the king. Although the plot is revealed, the League succeeds in kidnapping the king. The king's troops manage to make Wenceslas free, but he has to accept a humiliating peace. Thus Žižka has to choose between two alternatives: give up the fight for justice and receive a higher rank at the royal court, or keep fighting, though alone and abandoned.[11]

Cast[]

Production[]

In 2013, Petr Jákl announced that he was preparing to make a film about Jan Žižka. He estimated a possible budget of 85 million Czech koruna.[13] During 2014, it was scheduled for a 2016 release.[14] Work on the film started after Jákl finished Ghoul in 2015.[7] American agency William Morris Endeavor has assisted with recruitment of actors for the film. Jákl stated that Žižka would most likely be played by a foreign actor.[15]

In August 2016, the process of recruiting extras for battles was started.[16] The first round of recruitment concluded in January 2017,[8] with thousands of volunteers.[17]

In July 2017, Jákl announced that shooting would start in Spring 2018, and that it would take place in South Bohemia and Central Bohemia. He also stated that Žižka would definitely not be played by a Czech actor, saying that his USA contacts were talking with the agents of some American actors.[15] Cassian Elwes became the film's producer on 6 March 2018.[18][19]

Ben Foster was announced to be cast as Jan Žižka on 24 August 2018. Shooting was scheduled to start on 17 September 2018.[20] Michael Caine was announced on 7 September 2018 to be cast as the fictional character of Lord Boreš.[21] Matthew Goode was cast in November as King Sigismund.[22]

The film was officially announced on 13 September 2018. The main cast included Til Schweiger, Marek Vašut, and Sophie Lowe, among others. The final budget was announced as 500,000,000 CZK (23,000,000 USD).[3][23][24] Shooting started on 17 September 2018,[25] continuing near Prague until October 2018.[26] Shooting then moved to various Czech castles such as Křivoklát Castle[27] before concluding in December 2018. Shooting took place primarily in Central Bohemian and South Bohemia.[28][29]

Themes and inspirations[]

The film is based on the youth of the famous Hussite commander Jan Žižka, one of the most successful military leaders of his time, who had never lost a battle.[11] Director Petr Jákl (who had been known to film audience especially thanks to the popular thriller Kajínek about a well-known Czech prison escapee)[30] said he wanted to promote Czech Republic in the world and so this time he chose one of the biggest Czech national heroes as the main character for his film.[31] Unlike other autors, he chose the early period of Žižka's life because he wanted the audience to see how his character was formed.[30] At the same time it allowed him to make the film different from his predecessors (for example a well-known 1955 film Jan Žižka by Otakar Vávra) which focused on his glorious Hussite period.[30] Jákl admitted that although he tried to be faithful to the facts, cooperating with the Czech historian Jaroslav Čechura,[32] he did not consider them as important as the overall impression,[30] especially as many facts of Žižka's early life are not known at all or are a matter of dispute among historians. Thus also a love story was added.[32]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "JAN ŽIŽKA". BIOSCOP - Distribuční společnost filmů (in Czech). Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Rozhovor: Petr Jákl stále chystá nejdražší český film a věří v lepší zítřky". Fandíme Filmu (in Czech). 21 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Režisér Petr Jákl chystá nejdražší český film historie. Jan Žižka bude stát stovky milionů a hrát v něm budou zahraniční hvězdy". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Warrior of God (Jan Žižka) | In Development | Production | Three Brothers Production". www.historicalmovie.com. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  5. ^ "Ben Foster to Star in Petr Jákl's Historical Drama Medieval". ComingSoon.net. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Jan Žižka (2018) | Diskuze". CSFD.cz. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Po Kajínkovi a Ghoulovi plánuje Petr Jákl film o mládí Jana Žižky". iDNES.cz. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  8. ^ a b Zezulka, Tomáš (3 January 2017). "Film Jan Žižka: první kola náboru komparsu skončila". TÝDEN.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Češi si neváží hrdinů, proto jim ukážu neporaženého Žižku, říká muž, který stvořil hvězdu Kajínka". www.seznamzpravy.cz. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Petr Jákl chystá velkofilm Jan Žižka. Má jít o nejdražší film v historii české kinematografie". Aktuálně.cz - Víte co se právě děje (in Czech). 4 August 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Jan Žižka". JBJ Film (in Czech). Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  12. ^ kinobox.cz, team at. "Velkofilm Jan Žižka: Koho ztvární Karel Roden?". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Režisér Kajínka si brousí zuby na Jana Žižku. Za pořádný balík z něj udělá grázla i psance". Super.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Češi chystají velkofilmy o Karlu IV., Žižkovi, thriller ze středověku i pokračování komedie Eva tropí hlouposti". www.totalfilm.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  15. ^ a b kinobox.cz, team at. "Petr Jákl připravuje Jana Žižku, nejdražší tuzemský velkofilm". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Chcete si zahrát v historickém velkofilmu? Máte šanci". Bruntálský a krnovský deník (in Czech). 19 August 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Náborů do velkofilmu Jan Žižka se zúčastnily tisíce lidí - Regiony 24.cz". www.regiony24.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  18. ^ kinobox.cz, team at. "Jáklův velkofilm Jan Žižka míří do té nejvyšší ligy, postarají se o něj v Hollywoodu!". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  19. ^ Spáčilová, Mirka (5 March 2018). "Petr Jákl získal na film Jan Žižka hollywoodského producenta". iDNES.cz. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  20. ^ kinobox.cz, team at. "Kdo si zahraje Jana Žižku? Hollywoodská hvězda na vzestupu, která si dost vybírá". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Pravá ruka krále Václava. V Jáklově filmu Jan Žižka bude hrát oscarový Michael Caine". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  22. ^ Matthew Goode joins historical epic 'Medieval' (exclusive)
  23. ^ "Jan Žižka bude nejdražší český film. Objeví se v něm i Sophie Loweová a William Moseley z Letopisů Narnie". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Jan Žižka: Film za půl miliardy korun představila tisková konference". FandímeFilmu.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  25. ^ "Začíná natáčení filmu Žižka. Jákl, Foster, Sweiger, Vašut, Budař a další ho odstartovali (foto + video)". Epoch Times (in Czech). Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  26. ^ kinobox.cz, team at. "Jak se točí velkofilm o Janu Žižkovi? Fotky z placu a nové herecké hvězdy". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  27. ^ kinobox.cz, team at. "Velkofilm Jan Žižka: Proslulý Michael Caine točil na Křivoklátu. Co se mu líbí na Češích?". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  28. ^ kinobox.cz, team at. "Jan Žižka obětí marketingového "středověku" aneb Velkofilm s dost podivným mezinárodním názvem..." Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  29. ^ "Petr Jákl dotočil svůj historický film Jan Žižka". www.ceskenoviny.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  30. ^ a b c d "Český film o Janu Žižkovi bude stát stovky milionů, husitského vojevůdce ztvární Američan Foster". Aktuálně.cz. ČTK. 2018-08-25. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  31. ^ Vojáček, Lukáš (2020-10-21). "Rozhovor: Petr Jákl stále chystá nejdražší český film a věří v lepší zítřky". Fandíme filmu. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  32. ^ a b Spáčilová, Mirka (2018-09-14). "Mladý, hvězdný, zamilovaný. To je Jan Žižka, film za půl miliardy korun". Idnes.cz. Retrieved 20 June 2021.

External links[]

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