Summary
Seasoned director Karel Kachyňa was made to demonstrate his loyalty to the ruling totalitarian regime in 1973 by making this political drama which takes place during the Slovak National Uprising in the closing stages of World War II. The recollections of the protagonist take him back to a time when he was a guerrilla fighter hiding from fascist forces. Our hero, a communist MP before the war, is now injured and hiding in a log cabin along with other fighters. An attempt to obtain false identification papers for the guerrillas almost results in his being discovered… Although the script – which included contributions from legendary Barrandov Film Studios dramaturge Vladimír Bor, among others – is heavily slanted in order to meet the period’s ideological demands, it still allowed Kachyňa to create a somewhat poetic narrative with authentic elements. The lead role of the morally steadfast hero, able to withstand any adversity, was given to Petr Haničinec with the supporting cast featuring lesser known Czech and Slovak actors.
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