Travel back in time

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Travel back in time
Original title Cesta do pravěku
Country of production Czechoslovakia
original language Czech
Publishing year 1955
length 80 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Karel Zeman
script YES Novotný
production Czechoslovak state film
music Emil František Burian
camera Antonín Horák ,
Václav Pazderník
cut Zdeněk Stehlík
occupation

The children's film Reise in die Urzeit (Alternative title: Reise in die Urwelt ) is a Czechoslovak fantasy film from 1955.

action

Four boys wonder about a fossilized trilobite that one of them found near a cave. The youngest member of the group would like to see such an animal in its natural environment. But he has no idea of ​​the time periods that lie between the present and the ancient world . That's why the three older boys want to take him on a journey back into the history of the earth . With a rowboat they follow a river into a cave. The river symbolizes the flow of time in the film, and this is how you first get to the last ice age . The further they go down the river, the deeper they penetrate into the past of planet earth. The next destination of the expedition is the Tertiary , and then the four boys experience an exciting journey through the Mesozoic Ages . In every era they encounter a wide variety of animals and plants and have to endure some dangerous encounters with predatory life forms. After a stopover in the hard coal forests of the Karbon , at the end of their exploration tour in the Silurian , they finally stand on the coast of a prehistoric sea, where they actually discover a living trilobite.

Remarks

The film provides insights into the evolutionary history of the earth based on the level of knowledge of the 1950s. As a trick technique to create dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, the stop-motion technique and cartoon effects were used. A documentary was also made about the making of the film .

There is an American version of this film called Journey to the Beginning of Time . Directed by Fred Ladd , an additional opening scene was created based on the script by William Cayton and an additional ending scene at the end of the film. In these scenes, four American boys who look similar to the original Czechoslovak boys visit a dinosaur exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History .

The German dubbed version refers to the original Czechoslovak version. There is both a GDR dubbing version and a West German dubbing version. The narrative role of the version published in the Federal Republic was spoken by Jens Wawrczeck , in the GDR version it was Arno Wyzniewski, who later became very popular as a theater and film actor . The film was released in GDR cinemas on December 11, 1955.

A DVD was released in Japan in 2004, in Germany in 2005 and in Spain in 2007 , with the Japanese and Spanish image versions having different digital masters. The announced Czech DVD was withdrawn for licensing reasons. The images on the German DVD have not been digitally edited.

The depiction of primeval nature, especially animals, was largely based on the models of the scientific illustrations by Zdeněk Burian .

The following prehistoric animals were shown: woolly mammoth , Megaloceros (only antlers), Coelodonta , Deinotherium , Honanotherium , Smilodon , uintatherium , Phorusrhacos , Pteranodon , Styracosaurus , Stegosaurus , Brontosaurus , Edmontosaurus (referred to as Trachodon ), Ceratosaurus , Meganeura , Two unknown amphibians, although one is likely Eryops , trilobite .

Reviews

"With the help of classic effects, Zeman credibly brought the dinosaurs to life on the screen."

- film.at

"A nice film for children ... which can be used in a winning way as entertaining teaching material."

- New York Times

"Technically interesting production that combines your pedagogical concerns with an original and exciting game plot."

- Lexicon of international film

literature

Awards

Karel Zeman received the prize for the best children's film at the 1955 Venice Film Festival for Journey to Prehistoric Times.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ zdenekburian.websnadno.cz or bpib.com
  2. ↑ A journey into prehistoric times (1955). In: film.at. Retrieved February 16, 2017 .
  3. ^ The Heyne Lexicon of Science Fiction Films . 1993, p. 638
  4. ↑ Journey to prehistoric times. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 16, 2017 . Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used