She Grazed Horses on Concrete

She Grazed Horses on Concrete
DVD
Directed byŠtefan Uher
Written byShort stories:
Milka Zimková
Screenplay:
Milka Zimková
Štefan Uher
StarringMilka Zimková
Veronika Jeníková
Marie Logojdová
Peter Staník
Ľubomír Paulovič
CinematographyStanislav Szomolányi
Edited byMaxmilián Remeň
Music bySvetozár Štúr
Release date
  • 22 December 1982 (1982-12-22)
Running time
78 minutes
CountriesSlovakia
Czechoslovakia
LanguageSlovak

She Grazed Horses on Concrete (Slovak: Pásla kone na betóne) is a 1982 Slovakian-Czech comedy-drama film exploring themes of female sexual mores and abortion, holding out in society balanced with comedy and irony[1] in proportions that instantly made it one of the biggest domestic blockbusters in Slovak cinema.[2]

A quarter of a century later, its DVD release sold out within weeks. The film, directed by the reputed Štefan Uher, made the women at its center stage stand for humankind as matter-of-factly as much of Central European filmmaking had been portraying men's worlds, the quiet turnaround never even became a talking point. It was also the first film that employed a regional variety of the language that would be naturally used where the story took place,[3] which provided an additional layer of humor whose novelty had people rolling in the aisles.

Its baffling title quotes a verse from a fresh folk song about a woman striving to accomplish impossible feats. Attempts to render it in English resulted in the film being shown and quoted under a range of titles that have included She Kept Crying for the Moon, She Kept Asking for the Moon, A Ticket to Heaven (also the erroneous A Ticket to the Heaven), and Concrete Pastures.

The film was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Silver Prize.[4]

  1. ^ Kevin Brochet, "Štefan Uher and Milka Zimková: She Grazed Horses on Concrete (Pásla kone na betóne) 1982."
  2. ^ Václav Macek, Štefan Uher 1930-1993. 2002.
  3. ^ Martin Votruba, "Historical and Cultural Background of Slovak Filmmaking."
  4. ^ "13th Moscow International Film Festival (1983)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-11-07. Retrieved 2013-01-31.