On the Locomotive

Eugen Mateička / Slovakia / 1942 / Czech Premiere / 6 min.

synopsis

A beautiful Slovak film ride through picturesque Slovakia, by train from Bratislava to the Tatra Mountains.

If Plicka once had a train take the audience to Slovakia, to the “promised land”, in the introduction to The Land Sings, Eugen Mateíčka’s short film continues this tradition. On the Locomotive is a film-ride, through which the train-camera introduces us to the beauties of Slovakia from the west, through the tunnels along the Váh River, and on to the magnificent Tatra Mountains. It is one of the most photogenic and beautiful-Slovak films of Nástup.

biography

Eugen Mateíčka (1914–1996)
When the production department of Nástup was established in 1941, the former radio operator, Mateíčka, was one of its first acquisitions. He made less than a dozen films at Nástup. Although after the war he worked briefly as a film correspondent (head of the Film Chronicle), and as a documentary filmmaker on agricultural subjects, he was later weaned off of film, and rededicated himself to editorial work.