''Oil Lamps'' () is a 1971 Czechoslovak

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed and co-written by

Juraj Herz Juraj Herz (4 September 1934 – 8 April 2018) was a Slovak film director, actor, and scene designer, associated with the Czechoslovak New Wave movement of the 1960s. He is best known for his 1969 horror/black comedy '' The Cremator'', often ci ...

. It competed in the

1972 Cannes Film Festival The 25th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 4 to 19 May 1972. American filmmaker Joseph Losey served as jury president for the main competition. The ''Grand Prix du Festival International du Film'', then the fetival's main prize, was un ...

. It is based on a novel by Jaroslav Havlíček.

Plot

In a small Czech town named

Jilemnice Jilemnice (; ) is a town in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monu ...

lives a brave and jovial woman Štěpa Kiliánová, who enjoys her independent life but also desires to marry and have a family. The latter proves difficult as most potential suitors do not find her to be matching ideals of a 1900s wife. Out of excessive trust and desire to marry, she marries her cousin, a sardonic, reclusive man, former lieutenant and gambler Pavel Malina, whose only wish is to find peace and forget the past. Meanwhile the groom's father and older brother are interested in Štěpa's inheritance to save their farm from ruin. The couple live through unrequited love, dislike and disappointment on Štěpa's side, since her husband does not consummate the marriage because of his

impotence Erectile dysfunction (ED), also referred to as impotence, is a form of sexual dysfunction in males characterized by the persistent or recurring inability to achieve or maintain a Human penis, penile erection with sufficient rigidity and durat ...

, due to the

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

he caught during his excessive life-style time in the army.

Cast

Iva Janžurová Iva Janžurová (born 19 May 1941) is a Czech actress. She attended school in České Budějovice and in 1963, she graduated from the Faculty of Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. In 1964, she became the main member of Vinoh ...

as Štěpa Kiliánová *

Petr Čepek Petr Čepek (16 September 1940 – 20 September 1994) was a Czechs, Czech actor. He was among the founders of The Drama Club theatre in Prague, where he played from 1965 until his death. He also had dozens of film roles, and he won the Czech Lion ...

as Pavel Malina * Marie Rosůlková as Mother *

Ota Sklenčka Ota Sklenčka (19 December 1919 in Hradec Králové – 10 October 1993 in Prague) was a Czech actor. He starred in the film ''Poslední propadne peklu'' under director Ludvík Ráža in 1982. Selected filmography * ''Lovers in the Year One' ...

as Father *

Vladimír Jedenáctík Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology T ...

as Uncle *

Karel Černoch Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley (born 1962), American talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel (1921–2006), Dutch painter and sculptor Business * Karel Elec ...

as Synáček *

Jaroslav Blažek Jaroslav Blažek (3 August 1896 – 9 August 1976) was a Czech cinematographer. He worked in the Czech film industry from the silent era to the German occupation. He also shot a 1940 comedy film ''Then We'll Get a Divorce'' at the Palatino Studi ...

as Trakl * Václav Vondráček as Tabetic Machoň

References

External links

* 1971 films 1971 drama films Czech drama films Czechoslovak drama films 1970s Czech-language films Films directed by Juraj Herz 1970s Czech films {{1970s-drama-film-stub