She will not come alone, she will come with a blacksmith... yes! A young village blacksmith decided to look at the world, show himself and went to wander. He met two friends and went together. They learned that the evil sorcerer had stolen three daughters from the king, and decided to rescue them. They will face trials of cold, hunger, distant road, magic spells and the most difficult test - to experience the fortress of friendship.
In Soviet times, this Czechoslovak fairy tale was at the box office, with dubbing, but since then it has disappeared from the radar, and it is a pity that it is not such a masterpiece as the films of Vaclav Vorliček, but a very worthy representative of the Czechoslovak fairy tale canon.
The plot was truly fabulous without any postmodern rethinkings and an abundance of stupid humor. Of course, as always, the nature of Czechoslovakia is delightful: light-filled forests, free fields, soft hills, majestic rocks. “About the Brave Blacksmith” production is not very rich and a special emphasis is placed on beautiful paintings of nature, especially since this is a road-movie fairy tale. Mystic scenes were also successful: the appearance of a witch-fox, the underground castle of the black king. The action is accompanied by a variety of music by composer Peter Ulrich, especially the title melody with folk motifs is remembered.
But the main character will probably surprise many, with the words “young village blacksmith” you probably imagined a stately parable with a soot in the shoulders, but not! The performer of this role Pavel Kriz (or Krizh) is a tenuous young man of 17 years, with a thin long neck, and a large teenage mouth, a very unusual type for a fairy-tale hero, especially for a blacksmith endowed with remarkable strength. Of course, in the 1980s, Creese was a noticeable youth star, thanks to the “poetic” franchise Klein-Pechaek, he keeps confident and plays normally, but still the choice of this puppy for the main fairy-tale role somehow puzzled me a little. Other actors are more familiar: the fat, voracious miller Matej (Jergie Knot), the tall, shaggy woodcutter Ondra (Jan Kroner). The Old King and the Black Wizard also look good. The young princesses are quite cute, but the small budget of the film is noticeable in their costumes, these are some strange clothes from bright rags, it is better not to look closely. Makeup and special effects (there are not too many of them) for that time made well.
Bottom line: "About the brave blacksmith" well-made fairy tale road-movie with fine music and an alternative protagonist. I hope all fans of Czechoslovak fairy tales will remember this completely forgotten film again.
P.S. interesting fact: Actor Jan Kroner, who played the greedy woodcutter Ondra a few years later, starred in the title role in the film-fairy tale "Do not be afraid" - the plot, locations and mystical flavor of which is in many ways similar to the fairy tale "About the brave blacksmith" (the same scriptwriters worked), such a fabulous continuity.