Directed by:
Karel ZemanComposer:
Luboš FišerCast:
Emil Horváth ml., Magda Vášáryová, František Filipovský, Josef Větrovec, Čestmír Řanda st., Vladimír Menšík, Jiřina Jirásková, Karel Effa, Jaroslav Mareš (more)Plots(1)
Lieutenant Servadac, a member of the French garrison in an African colony, is intrigued during his walk by a portrait of a beautiful girl in the marketplace. While delineating the seashore, Servadac falls into the sea. He cannot swim but luckily he is saved by Angelica, a girl as like as two peas to the girl from the portrait, who has just managed to escape a group of kidnappers from a steamboat. An unprecedented phenomenon appears in the sky - a second sun, which is in fact a comet. Servadac takes Angelica to the citadel, where Colonel Picard has also invited the Spanish consul, unaware that the consul has been conspiring with the sheikh and the natives to prepare a rebellion against the French. The consul's infernal machine fails at the very moment when the comet passes the Earth and pulls with it part of the African continent, including the French colony. Servadac finds out that the comet is heading to Mars, into which it is most probably going to crash. The approach of death changes the behaviour of people. Servadac and Angelica declare their love to each other, enemies become friends, the natives refuse to fight. Servadac's calculations, however, are mistaken, and as soon as Servadac reveals that there is no threat, everything returns to the beaten track - the consul again begins to plot to seize the African territory with the sheikh. The revengeful brothers take Angelica to Sicily on a fishing boat. Servadac jumps into the sea to follow them. On the seashore, batman Ben wakes up his master, who is holding the portrait of the beautiful Angelica in his hand. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (2)
Purely objectively, this may be one of Karel Zeman's weaker films. Plot-wise, it may be a bit lacking. Maybe not as interesting. The laudable anti-war idea may be mired in confused bouncing back and forth. And Emil Horváth, Jr. may owe his charisma mainly to the dubbing of Jan Tříska, because otherwise he is quite wooden. Perhaps, perhaps. But what does it all matter when On the Comet is still such a beautiful film and a completely dreamy, almost touching fantasy. ()
For me, this is such a unique film that no other from Karel Zeman has surpassed it. That certainly doesn't mean that the other films by Zeman aren't great. They are, and On the Comet is proof of that. Visually captivating, narratively charmingly naive with a message that sounds a bit silly today, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true. ()
Gallery (42)
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