Summary
Polish director Julian Dziedzina got the chance in 1972 to direct a political-historical drama set in the 1930s. The story zeroes in on a whirlwind of pressures brought about by the calling of a workers’ strike at the Hedvika mine in Ostrava during a time of economic crisis. The editor of a Communist newspaper, Eda Krahulík (Petr Svojtka), comes to the miners’ aid, but runs up against the arrogance of the Social Democratic trade unions. It is a clash which ends in tragedy for one worker, Toník Holas (Ivan Vyskočil). The young man, who is caring for his sick mother, gets sacked from his job and out of desperation shoots the mine foreman who had promised to protect him. The crime gives the pit’s management an excuse to suppress the rebellious miners using force. Vít Olmert, who in the 1970s rather sporadically devoted himself to acting, plays a journalist in the film.
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