Summary
Director Vojtěch Trapl was very much at ease with the post-1968 “normalisation” era storytelling required by Prague's Barrandov film studios. One example is found in this 1975 adaptation of Trapl’s own play. The directing debut of this film industry functionary, maker of instructional films, and opponent of cinema's Czechoslovak New Wave, leaves much to be desired in terms of craftsmanship, but more than makes up for it via its ideological fervour. In a story that takes place in the summer of 1968, state prosecutor Ronešová launches an investigation into an attack by an angry mob on the wife of a local communist. In court, Ronešová succeeds in uncovering the real culprit: a right-wing colleague who deliberately stirred things up... Jiřina Petrovická takes the lead role in this archetypal example of “normalisation” period filmmaking. Trapl would return to the big screen director’s chair two further times – albeit with similar results – via Vítězný lid (The Victorious People, 1977) and Velké přání (The Big Wish, 1981).
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