Legendary comedy Vrchní, prchni! has been entertaining Czechs and Slovaks since 1980. The character of the bookseller Dalibor Vrána undoubtedly belongs to the unforgettable roles of Josef Abrhám. The idea arose in the head of Zdeněk Svěrák when he jumped into the restaurant in a costume from the theater and couldn’t stop wondering, reminds the portal, “Several tables called me that they wanted to pay and couldn’t wait for the boss. And I realized that I could cash them in, walk away, and nothing would happen“, he said.
He wrote down the idea in his screenwriting notebook and gradually began to wrap the story of the false superior around it. He envisioned comedian Petr Nárožný as the main character, but director Ladislav Smoljak talked him out of it. “He wanted to make the role much more civil, and that’s why he chose Josef Abrhám, and I had to put up with it. But I was happy to put up with it,” Svěrák said after some time.
The scene that the chief dramaturg had uncompromisingly cut did not make it into the film classics. Vrána wanted to cast star actors Vladimír Menšík, Jiřina Bohdalová and Radek Brzobohatý in it. However, Jiří Suchý was also sitting at the table, who was a thorn in the side of the then regime. After a strong stop, it ended up in the basket.
One of the most famous scenes of the film is the final chase. “I was surprised by how well it turned out, when the car leaves and we see through the back window how they threaten him with their fists. Barrand’s extras couldn’t do that, they had to be fresh boys, to whom it was enough to explain it and they played it as if they had experienced it themselves,” admitted the director.
The chase is completed by the song Severní vítr, although a faster melody was originally planned. However, Smoljak played the song over and over with all the shots, so he deliberately used it as a contrast to the wild running through the streets. In addition, the director got so used to the voice of the composer Jaroslav Uhlíř in the test recording that he finally entrusted the singing of this popular hit to him.
