For Slovaks, Petra Vančíková-Kolevská will forever be Elizabeth from the popular Christmas fairy tale Perinbaba. She remembered the filming of the holiday classic on the radio “It was so weird with that movie. Immediately after the premiere, none of us expected that it would take on such proportions and that it would become a cult fairy tale. Year after year, it made us more and more happy, amazed and surprised,” she admitted.
She added that even after decades it still surprises her. The legendary Perinbaba by director Juraj Jakubiska premiered in 1985.It’s a nice part of life. I keep telling myself that it was basically a great gift to be a part of something that can make people happy for such an incredibly long time.” Vančíková-Kolevská confided.
Even after 40 years, he remembers the filming as if it were yesterday. According to her, filming was incredibly difficult. “We experienced things there that at that time many colleagues did not manage to experience. Filming with Juraj Jakubiska requires the whole person, it requires absolute courage, absolute surrender. His visions and especially in Perinbaba, which was a realm of fantasy, were extremely demanding,” she stated honestly.
“It was filmed at a time when there were no digital tricks. We did everything realistically. It required an incredibly skilled crew in terms of set, decorations, stuntmen and all the auxiliary forces who knew how to make it happen in the real world. We really enjoyed the tricks for 90%. Sometimes even a hundred. I remember how we walked barefoot on the ice in the Demänovská ice cave, so it was 100%,” Vančíková-Kolevská recalled.
She added in one breath that it was an unforgettable experience. “Also, a lifelong phobia of winter from the filming” she said bluntly. “We captured the legendary winter, when it was really minus 30 degrees cold,” she stated, and one specific memory came to her mind.
“With Tobias, that is, Jakubko, we shot the scenes in which he makes a snow sculpture, when he wants to show me what Perinbaba looks like, and there we roll such a big ball. At least I had short sleeves and a cover, but he only had a vest on, and I know we were laughing about the way bits of skin stuck to the ice because it was minus 30. It was rough.” emphasized the star of the legendary fairy tale.
