Summary
Musician and screenwriter Vladimír Mertawas drawn to portraying the timeless charm of Moravian folk music based on his own experiences. The hero of this poetically minded tale is a journalism student named Honza (Jan Hartl), who happens upon a unique folk song composer, František Hřebačka (played by Josef Kemr), known by the monicker of Fanoš Mikulecký. Thanks to the elder man and his songs, the young urbanite, who had only valued foreign rock music, finds a path to his natural roots. Merta, a popular singer-songwriter and graduate of Prague’s FAMU film school, long tried in vain to make his directorial debut during the “normalisation” period via the state-run Barrandov Film Studios. The realisation of his screenplay only came about thanks to Jaromil Jireš; but the experienced director, in whose work musical themes also play an important role, could not of course defend Merta’s concept from a dose of censorship.
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