Summary
Veteran director Václav Vorlíček’s filmography includes an unusual entry: a 1982 narrative comprising several episodes. The film paints an overall picture of a Friday afternoon in Prague as people, each in their own way, get ready for the weekend. The main protagonist is a police officer (Ladislav Županič) who monitors the city’s traffic from above in a helicopter and reports for the radio programme Zelená vlna (the name, The Green Wave, alludes to the idea of traffic lights going green in harmony with the traffic patterns, so as to maintain the flow). The policeman’s story acts as an umbrella between the individual episodes, both small and more prominent, which feature a variety of characters. The episodes combine into an image of a world in which there is no shortage of drama and tragedy but where a happy end is assured, thanks to the script by Vladimír Kalina. This lesser-known film remains overshadowed by Vorlíček’s famous comedies even though it featured an unusual concentration of popular actors.
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