Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker

Lore & Background

The film was shot in castles in Bohemia and Moravia, including Bouzov and Křivoklát. Jíra's wings were designed by the film's production team, with no verified connection to Leonardo da Vinci.

Reader's Guide

Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker is considered a classic by the Czech national broadcaster TV Nova. The German film lexicon Zweitausends complimented its imaginative design. Author Peter Harnes wrote that Troška's films all fell short of the work of Jiří Trnka and Jan Švankmajer. The film was screened at festivals in South Africa and Zimbabwe in 2002, and received a DVD release in the Czech Republic in 2004. It remains a notable entry in Czech fairy-tale cinema.

Did You Know?

• The film's wings were designed by the production team; claims of a Leonardo da Vinci inspiration are unverified.
• The film was shot at castles Bouzov and Křivoklát in Bohemia and Moravia.
• It was screened in a Week of Czech and Slovak Films in Pretoria, South Africa in September 2002.

Plot & Narrative Arc

The story, drawn from a fairy tale by Czech writer Jan Drda, opens with two rival witches—a mother and daughter—destroying the cockerel that heralds dawn, keeping the Sun from rising. After the King rules in favor of the Good Witch of the Sun, the vengeful Evil Witch curses his daughter, Princess Jasněnka, to marry a shoemaker. The King, outraged, imprisons her in a castle tower. To make the curse work, the Evil Witch sends a spirit to trick Jíra, a cobbler, into building leather wings. He flies to the tower, meets the Princess, and the two elope. The witches, enraged by the couple's joy, sabotage their kitchen, disguise themselves at market, and transform the Princess into a dove, locking her in a dungeon. Jíra searches for her with only one slipper, aided by the Good Witch who gives him a magical ring. After a spectacular battle with the Evil Spirit, they escape—but a memory-erasing potion renders Jíra unconscious. The Princess is recaptured and the King arranges her swift marriage to one of three noble princes. Jíra recovers his memory, storms the wedding, and the pair fly off together.

Production & Filmmaking

Director Zdeněk Troška, known for a string of fairy-tale features including The Loveliest Riddle and the Princess from the Mill series, brought this adaptation to life with screenwriter Karel Steigerwald. The production was handled by Barrandov Studios in Prague, and principal photography took place at two castles in Bohemia and Moravia: Bouzov and Vítkovec, the latter situated near the town of Holany. One of the most memorable behind-the-scenes incidents occurred during the filming of Jíra's tower rescue, when a practical explosion and fire broke out, terrifying the cast. Troška recalled that Michaela Kuklová, just seventeen at the time, burst into tears. A notable design choice was the construction of Jíra's flying wings, which were modeled on a fifteenth-century drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The ensemble cast included Lubor Tokoš as the King, Helena Růžičková and Yvetta Blanarovičová as the two witches, and Jana Preissová providing the voice of the Sun.

Release & International Screenings

Premiering in Czechoslovakian cinemas on 1 December 1987, the film has since traveled well beyond its home borders. English-language audiences know it under two titles: Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker, and Princess Jasna and the Flying Cobbler. In September 2002, the picture was programmed as part of the Week of Czech and Slovak Films in Pretoria, South Africa, followed by a repeat screening during Film Week in Cape Town that spanned September and October of the same year. Shortly after, from October through November 2002, it featured at a Contemporary Czech Film international festival in Zimbabwe. Back in the Czech Republic, a DVD edition became available on 1 March 2004, giving home viewers access to the production for the first time. These international showings in Southern Africa and Zimbabwe helped establish the film as a recognizable entry in the broader landscape of Eastern European fantasy cinema.

Reception & Enduring Legacy

Critical responses to the film have been mixed but largely appreciative of its visual ambition. The German film reference work Zweitausendeins singled out the production for its imaginative design, acknowledging the craftsmanship behind Troška's fairy-tale world. However, scholar Peter Harnes, writing in his 2016 Routledge volume on international fairy-tale cinema, noted that Troška's films as a whole fell short of the work of Jiří Trnka and Jan Švankmajer. Despite such comparative critiques, the film has enjoyed a warm and enduring reception in its home country. In 2013, the Czech national broadcaster TV Nova designated Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker as a viewer favorite, a distinction that effectively cements its status as a beloved classic of Czech television and cinema. The film's continued screening at festivals in South Africa and Zimbabwe, combined with its 2004 home-video release, ensures that new generations of audiences can still encounter its whimsical world.