The thermal baths of Karlovy Vary,
Czech Republic
Directed by Peter Krüger

26 MIN
BETA DIGITAL (16/9)

Original version available
with English or French commentary
 
documentary – lifestyle – surroundings – art – culture
– society – history – nature – work – everyday life

SYNOPSIS

Kaleidoscope has got the vapours… Karlovy Vary (or Carlsbad) is one of the largest and oldest spa towns in the Czech Republic and indeed Europe. It has seen many famous visitors: Bach and Casanova, Goethe and Kafka, Rita Hayworth and Gagarine, Vaclav Havel and Gérard Depardieu. It is also the venue of a renowned international film festival, which at its 38th edition is one of the oldest in the world. Founded in 1350, the city and its thermal springs were at their height of popularity at the turn of the 19th century with the development of the railway. This was Carlsbad's Golden Age. During this period the town developed an original and unique thermal bath architecture, a mixture of monumental neo-classical, Art Nouveau and Viennese rococo, magnificently integrated into the surrounding landscape. Le Corbusier spoke of "an assemblage of cakes"... Today, 55 000 visitors from all over the world come to Karlovy Vary for the cures. Kaleidoscope sketches the portrait of a thermal living space, with its hotels and baths, its misty, sometimes old-fashioned atmospheres and... its authentic Japanese stone garden. Here we meet the inhabitants of the place and its passing guests, famous and less famous alike.

CREDITS

Directed by : Peter Krüger
Script : Peter Krüger
Mister Kaleidoscope was written and acted by Marc-Henri Wajnberg
Image : Jean-Paul De Zaeytijd
Editing : Dominique Lefever
Sound : Damien Defays

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

Wajnbrosse Productions
Video cassette available on request Contact-us

PRODUCTION

ARTE France
Panic Productions
Wajnbrosse Productions

With the support of
Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) ,
Ministère de la Communauté Française de Belgique et des Télédistributeurs Wallons

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