Barrandov Studios at 80

What began as the joint dream of two Prague brothers has become one of the most important centers of filmmaking in Europe: Barrandov Studios. Ahead of its 80th anniversary later this year, The Prague Post recently toured Barrandov to discover more about its intriguing, often tumultuous past.

When construction began in 1931 under the direction of brothers Miloš and Václav Havel (uncle and father of the former president, respectively), Barrandov Studios was part of an ambitious project to create a California-inspired garden city on the outskirts of Prague. Just 14 months after building commenced, the studio's first film, Murder on Ostrovní Street, was released in local cinemas.

Since then, Barrandov has grown precipitously. In recent years, it has helped produce blockbusters including The Bourne Identity, Casino Royale and films from The Chronicles of Narnia series.

Naturally, the studio has always been a vital component of the Czech film industry, involved in the production of classics like Jiří Menzel's Closely Watched Trains and Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos' The Shop on Main Street, both of which won Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

Today, Barrandov is a large-scale operation with 10 sound stages at its flagship location and a further four in Park Hostivař, which were recently adopted by TV Nova.

Barrandov's sales director, Petr Tichý, has long admired the studio both for the films it has produced and for the skill of its employees, a level of expertise that has been in part responsible for the number of foreign films made at Barrandov.

"What I feel is the experience of the people who work here; the crew and the craftsmen are unbelievable," he says.

Originally a journalist and anchorman in the Czech Republic, Tichý moved to Australia to study film, later working at the Warner Bros. studios in Queensland before returning to his homeland.  

"[Barrandov] is so professional compared to many of the other studios I've visited, and it's great what the Czech people are able to do with movies."

Along with its sound stages and 200 permanent members of staff, Barrandov boasts the biggest props and costume department in Europe. From its various storerooms, productions are able to source jewelry, furniture, textiles, weaponry, carriages and cars, while seemingly endless hanging rails heave with 300,000 garments from every period of history.

Among those in the collection are dresses, jackets and masks from the 1984 production Amadeus. It's this Oscar-winning film, directed by Czech-born Miloš Forman, that Tichý cites as the single-most important moment in the studio's history. From then on, Tichý claims, international filmmakers saw what Barrandov was really capable of. References from big-industry names are still appreciated by Barrandov today.

"Last year, we had Mission: Impossible IV and Tom Cruise for one month," Tichý says, "Although he did not spend a lot of time here, because there was a lot of location work, everyone was still talking about Tom Cruise being at Barrandov."

Troubled history

It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Barrandov, however. Just six years after the studio's first film, Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Nazis and a "treuhand" (forced control) project was introduced, as most industries and businesses were enveloped by Nazi representatives. Barrandov came under the remit of Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels.

Cited as the perfect place to create propaganda films because it was safer than any studio in Germany at that time, Barrandov's output remained limited, according to Tichý, as Czech workers "sabotaged" production, deliberately causing technical problems and not letting on that they knew as much as they did.  

"Czech filmmakers also mostly oriented themselves toward comedies and historical dramas, in which they could create quite freely because the themes were not touching current events," Tichý says.

Though Nazi ownership caused a stagnation of the studio's creative output, the three new stages added by Goebbels would prove a huge asset. They remain today, currently fitted out as a set for big-budget Renaissance TV series The Borgias.

"During the '50s and early '60s, there was a lot of state censorship," Tichý says. "This usually had restrictive effects on two levels. Firstly, with the scriptwriting, and secondly, when a film was completed."

After a film was finished, somewhat absurdly it still had to be decided whether the reels were to be released or "hidden away" in the studio's depository. A number of films were destroyed after completion.

Yet in the face of this communist adversity, a new brand of cinema sprung up. It would become known as the Czechoslovak New Wave. These rebellious, often dark-humored films were the work of a frustrated set of filmmakers including Menzel and Forman, Věra Chytilová, Ivan Passer, Jan Němec, Juraj Herz and Juraj Jakubisko.

Following the 1968 Prague Spring, hard-line Soviet control was imposed on the New Wave filmmakers, resulting in Forman and Němec fleeing the country. Their legacy remains admired by many, including Tichý, as a "golden era."

Even the cessation of nationalization in the early 1990s didn't end Barrandov's troubles. It is alleged that the studios were under threat of closure in the first part of the 2000s, struggling to entice any big-budget productions. In more recent years, the studio has had its share of trials and tribulations, too.

"The biggest problem started two or three years ago because we did not have any tax incentives. All American and most European productions moved to Hungary," Tichý says.

Although Barrandov's 80th anniversary falls in November, celebrations are already under way. A retrospective of the studio's early films was screened for March's Febiofest International Film Festival, and the studio plans to open its doors to the public in September. Tichý has ambitious plans of his own.

"I have been traveling a lot lately, especially in Europe, because I'm seriously thinking about making Barrandov a European co-production center. We are connected, we know the languages, we have something similar," he says. "I've recently been in Georgia, discussing possibilities of co-production between them and the Czech Republic. I'd be happy to make more Central and East European movies."

With last year's reintroduced tax incentives, continuing patronage from The Borgias, the release of Mission: Impossible IV this Christmas and filming of a new Philip Noyce project titled Wenceslas Square commencing this fall, the future looks bright for Barrandov.

And another Hollywood A-lister may soon be gracing the sound stages, too. Tichý says there's interest from Fox to make a production starring a certain Mr. Brad Pitt. While names like that continue to visit, it's likely that Barrandov will continue for at least another 80 years.

Will Noble can be reached at
wnoble@praguepost.com