Key

This 1971 drama, filmed on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), was directed by seasoned filmmaker Vladimír Čech. One of the early films of the post-1968 “normalisation” period, it takes place shortly after the assassination of Nazi Reich-Protector Reinhard Heydrich after which the Gestapo arrested, among others, the chairman of the illegal KSČ central committee, Jan Zika (1902–1942). The brave communist is subjected to torture by Gestapo officer Friedrich. Zika does not crack and does not reveal his identity – and Friedrich fails to grasp the importance of a key found on the prisoner that would have been a clue to the whereabouts of other resistance fighters… The main protagonist of this tale of unyielding belief in one’s ideals is depicted in an iconic manner by František Vicena. The Nazi sadist, Friedrich, is portrayed by German actor Wilhelm Koch-Hooge. He also appeared in other Czech films such as Zbabělec (The Coward, 1961) directed by Jiří Weiss, Dušan Klein’s Lekce (Lesson, 1971) and Otakar Vávra’s Dny zrady (Days of Betrayal, 1973).