This historical film by Hynek Bočan touches upon the indecisiveness of the Czech nation, ready to bend the backbone in face of foreign rule. Situating the story at the close of the Thirty Year War enabled the depiction of the misery of the people that affects even an impoverished aristocratic milieu. Rudolf Hrušínský appears here in the role of an indecisive knight, persuaded for a long time and in vain to join the anti-Habsburg movement. The story does not only captivate through the depiction of manifold human characters, intrigues and sycophancy, but also through the circumstances ruling over the devastated farmstead, sunk in mud and crudeness. One of the best films with an updating tendency has come into being here, rightly being named along the such greats as Kladivo na čarodějnice (Witches’ Hammer).
Length 87 minutes
Rudolf Hrušínský | Blanka Bohdanová | Karel Höger | Iva Janžurová | Josef Kemr | Lubomír Lipský | Bohuslav Čáp | Jaromír Hanzlík | Hana Kreihanslová | Zdeněk Kryzánek | Adolf Minský | Richard Záhorský | Jan Pohan | Jindřich Blažíček | Jan Cmíral | František Krahulík | František Kubíček | Otto Mojžíš | Stanislav Bareš | Emil Rohan | Karel Vavřík | Eduard Pavlíček | Ela Šilarová | Josef Dvořák | Karel Anderle | Emil Beneš | Čestmír Čivrný | Zdeněk Houška | Ivan Chrz | Josef Kříž | Petr Lebeda | František Plecháček | Ivo Prokop | Miloslav Průša | Robert Ritschel | J. Schuster | Zbyšek Šrůta | Petr Vinař | Pavel Vlasák | L. Zahrádka | Jaroslav Voigst | J. Plecháčková | Jan Ekl | Karel Engel | Milica Kolofiková | Ferdinand Krůta | Marie Šimberová | J. Šafránek