Synopsis
"Journey to the Beginning of Time" (Cesta do pravěku, 1955) is a Czechoslovak family fantasy you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Karel Zeman. Four schoolboys paddle a rowboat into a cave and travel back through geological time, one era at a time.
Each stop pulls them further from the present: the Ice Age first, then the age of dinosaurs, then a primordial sea barely recognizable as Earth. Zeman built every creature using stop-motion models and hand-painted backdrops combined with live action — a technique he developed years before digital effects were even imaginable. The prehistoric animals look tactile, strange, and oddly convincing.
Made in 1955 on a tight budget, the film became a fixture in Czech children's cinema and still works as an unpretentious lesson in deep time. Stream "Journey to the Beginning of Time" online on iFILM.
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