Summary
Genre specialist Dušan Klein hit on the idea of filming a pedigree spy thriller. This 1971 motion picture, which takes place during the Second World War in politically neutral Switzerland, was the result. The setting meant the director managed to escape the forced politicisation associated with the application of the “normalisation” period to Czechoslovak cinematography. Karel Höger is the mainstay of this film, scripted by Pavel Hajný. He takes the main role of the emigrant Lenz, a former German university professor who accepts an offer to pass on secret Nazi information to the Allies. Over time, Lenz gets the feeling that his risky activities have not had any particular outcome. Naturally, this is not true ... Lenz is thus a prototype of the common man who has decided to wage a personal battle against Nazism in an amateurish way – but not without success.
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