Václav Vorliček was born on 03.06.1930 in Prague and studied there an film college FAMU from 1951 to '56. Since his final examination he is working at Filmové Studio Barrandov as a director and writer and has since Politická karikatura (1959) shooted over 30 films.

On the occasion of his 70th birthday Gert K. Müntefering, editor of many years at WDR (West German Broadcasting) congratulated with an article in WDR-magazine "WDR print" of 1.11.2001. There the author calls Three Nuts for Cinderella a "masterpiece" and reports, how he convinced Vorliček ans Macourek, "to write a series for the WDR and Czech television now - something like a mixture of civilisation and fairytale and a lot of comic, maybe a little bit black." Die Märchenbraut was born. A series, of which Müntefering finds good, that it has brought "mad television of normal poeple" as a new idea into TV.

Vorliček has alway taken craftmanship very serious. "So there never were great artistical theories. Nothing should be improved, too, not merchandising profits, and not at all the world - the 35-mm-negative perhaps, though Orwo-positive on Technicolor worked well on TV. Narrator of stories! That was highbrow enough..." Gert K. Müntefering closes his article.

But not only Vorličeks work as writer and direcotr arouses enthusiasm: "His Princesses are the most beautiful, all above Libuše Šafránková in the film THREE NUTS FOR CINDERELLA" Freiburger Medienforum thinks. This we knew before, of course, because "...those who have grown up with Vorličeks princesses, will take Czech women für the most beautiful women on the world, anyway" so Berliner Zeitung.

But Vorliček seems not to be able to continue his former successes. His last film up to now Der Feuervogel (The Fire Bird, 1999) was received by the critics in very different ways. "Václav, Václav, what has become of you?" complains Tobias Matkowitz in online-magazine "mucke und mehr". Uwe Mies and Edda Bauer epress for film archive of city-guide.de, that Der Feuervogel "with its cheap thunder-and-lightning-effects and clumsy scenes is closer American fantasy-trash of the early 80ies ("Ator"or "Beastmaster") than in middle-European fairytale woods".

The Actors as well seem to be badly chosen, the authors of city-guide complain about a "certain lack of charisma" with Tina Ruland (Princess Elena) and Manou Lubowski (Prince Afron) and find Horst Buchholz "coarse and clumsy", even worse: "The whole film lacks of charm, wit and finesse." the title figur even, "the magical fire bird is a not at all magical puppet of plush, looking even lifeless in the glow of a red bulb." However, this does not frighten other critics. The above mentioned Berliner Zeitung finds, Vorliček "instigates an antiquated firework of tricks, which still satisfies itself", but cannot find anything bad in this: "In times of computeranimations Vorliček reminds us of the simple magic of laterna magica".

Tricks on Three Nuts for Cinderella do not show extreme cotst and polished special techniques. But this increases the nostalgic charme of our favourite film. Besides sweet Libuše and the brilliant story need no large scale computeranimations.

A propos story: Those of you who have taken the time to read the "original"-fairytale of Božena Němcová will have recognized - as Dieter Matthias - that it has almost nopthing in common with the film. Certain "motives", as can be read in the titles can be recognized. But the self-conscious, even emancipatoric statement, giving "charm, wit and finesse" to the film, which are badly missed in Feuervogel, are looked for in Němcovás fairytale in vain. Matthias assigns the reshaping of the story known around the world to Vorličeks, which is said to have scooped the emancipatoricel tendencies from "the biography of the author Němcová". (My theory on this is that the reference to one of the best known Czech authors in the credits should less announce a use of the fairytale of Němcová but rather attract audience.)

With this Vorliček (together with script author Bohumila Zelenková) has delivered a "great fairyzale film" (Matkowitz) , yes, even did "a cult great feat of timeless magic" (Mies and Bauer). Not at least Three Nuts for Cinderella has been awarded "Fairytale Film of the Century" on the youth film festival Zlín. And if this should really be the only of Vorličeks many films, the audience gets enthusiastic about for such a long time (and this website is the best proof), then in my opinion the effort was worth while.