Summary
In addition to the legendary satire The White Lady (Bílá paní, 1965), Czech filmmakers also found inspiration in the work of Karel Michal in this bitter historical comedy from 1968. Italian film critics gave this extraordinary film the Passinetti Prize in Venice; however, the censors hid it in the notional “normalisation safe”, in the prohibited titles section. Even though the story takes place at the end of the Thirty Years War, it was impossible to overlook obvious references to the political situation of the time. The protagonist and narrator – the poor and resigned knight Rynda of Loučka in the unforgettable rendition by Rudolf Hrušínský – is the prototype of the hesitant hero. He takes into his home a nobleman striving to overthrow the Hapsburgs, however he is unable to muster the courage for open resistance, because above all else, he longs to survive and to be left alone. This bitter testimony about the Czech character was undeservedly forgotten and did not find an audience until 1991.
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