The 23-year-old Karl Anton, who was subsequently to become a significant figure in Czech cinema, chose a very difficult subject for his first film. Gypsies, written in 1835 by the first modern Czech poet, Karel Hynek Mácha, is a short but very complex novel. Anton, who also wrote the script, retained most of Mácha’s narrative. The entire prologue takes place in Venice,where the filmmakers spent many days; the plot set in Bohemia was shot in an evocative Kokorˇín landscape, and in the authentic surroundings known to Mácha. Critics immediately recognized the film’s contribution to the art of Czech cinematography.

For years Gypsies was known only in a shortened version of around 1800-1900 metres, whereas its original length, according to censorship records, was 2400 metres. Four elements were used for this restoration: two on nitrate stock, and two that had already been reprinted on acetate. A toned nitrate print and a tinted first-generation copy with Czech intertitles were the longest, at 2020 metres. The second nitrate element was the original negative, consisting of unassembled fragments with Czech and German cued intertitles. A new copy was reconstructed from this material, with a total length of 2426 metres. It was subjected to the process of tinting and toning after being printed.

Blaz ̆ena Urgos ̆íková