Summary
It is 1907 and, having embarked on the final stage of his life in Tbilisi, Georgia, Czech singer and choirmaster Josef Navrátil recalls his professional career. The protégé of the great composer Bedřich Smetana is forced to seek work abroad having fallen out of favour with the Prague Provisional Theatre’s director. Using the assumed name of Ratili, he and his family eventually find a new home in Georgia. Once in the country, Navrátil devotes his efforts to writing down and performing folk songs… The film, directed by Georgi Kalatozishvili, was made in 1983 in a Czech-Georgian coproduction with Vít Olmer playing the lead. Several other parts also went to Czech actors: the main protagonist’s exhausted wife was Jana Březinová while the role of Smetana went to Otto Budín. Viewers are treated to the beauty of the Georgian landscape as well as the folk songs performed by an ensemble of dudukists.
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