Angel of Blissful Death

A period spy drama from 1965, this film tells the high-suspense story of the search for an archive hidden by the Nazis in the Czechoslovak Highlands of Vysočina before the end of the war. Members of the Czechoslovak counter-espionage service open a case previously shelved for two decades in order to solve the recent murder of a foreign intelligence resident and to capture his minions. In terms of craftsmanship, Anděl blažené smrti (The Angel of Blissful Death) was somewhat of a rarity of its time thanks in no small measure to esteemed screenwriter Jan Procházka, who also collaborated with director Karel Kachyňa when making the 1965 war drama Ať žije republika (Long Live the Republic). Director Štěpán Skalský attempted to increase the veracity of the film by employing an unusual documentary style and by casting lesser-known actors. Skalský later reaffirmed his interest in genre cinema by directing the A. C. Doyle-inspired parody Touha Sherlocka Holmese (Sherlock Holmes’ Desire, 1971) and spy drama Tichý Američan v Praze (Quiet American in Prague, 1977).