Summary
Following the February 1948 communist putsch, director Otakar Vávra could be relied upon to fulfil political demands. Němá barikáda (The Silent Barricade) is an adaptation of stories by Jan Drda depicting events of the May 1945 Prague Uprising. The experienced director combines the fates of the residents of Prague’s Holešovice quarter, who build a barricade in front of Trojský Bridge to thwart German panzers, into a mosaic of heroic deeds undertaken by common people who are outnumbered by well-armed opponents. The film, based on a screenplay co-authored by the director and Drda himself, features a star-studded line-up including Jaroslav Průcha, Jaroslav Marvan and Vladimír Šmeral. Even the support cast consists of prominent actors. In many cases these performers were also given roles in the director’s simultaneously produced historical drama Revoluční rok 1848 (The 1848 Revolutionary Year). It premiered seven months after Němá barikáda, which entered cinemas in May 1949 amid much fanfare.
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