Offside

This drama reflecting the popularity of ice hockey in the 1970s attempts to captivate its audience with the story of a professional player driven from the ice into a harsh reality after an unjust allegation of corruption. Popular Slovak actor Juraj Kukura portrays the ice hockey player Jindřich Vacula, forced to return to his home town, a place partly destroyed by the coal mining industry. He strives to find new meaning in life, but he is unable to abandon his libertine lifestyle, and the way back to the top of the world of ice hockey is closed to him… A screenplay by Jiří Křižan gave director Ivo Novák the foundation for this undemanding 1979 genre picture. It includes authentic shots of the old town of Most, which historically did have to partially make way for a coal mine. Smaller parts in the film are played by ice hockey stars of the time Ivan Hlinka and Vladimír Martinec.