Summary
Partly conceived as propaganda projects by the former RVHP (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), a slew of coproduced features appeared in the late 1970s and early 80s. Among them was Trasa (The Route, 1978), made by the Soviet directors Anatoly Vechotko and Natalie Troschenko. The protagonists of the feature are test drivers at the Kopřivnice automobile factory who try out Tatra 148 trucks in the extreme, frozen conditions of Siberia. A group of hardened men must face the challenges of both the weather and each other. Energetic driver Karel Vojta (Jan Kanyza) even finds love in Siberia but when chasing his dreams he is confronted by the former husband of beautiful doctor Rita and his fate takes a cruel turn. Despite all the drama, the collective of Czech and Soviet specialists still manage to find a mechanical flaw in the trucks prohibiting their use in the construction of an oil pipeline.
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