Summary
In 1983, director Václav Gajer ended his filmmaking career with a wartime story of two young village boys, who in the spring of 1945 experience many adventures with their new-found friend – partisan Jan. During the 1970s, Gajer achieved renown for a film trilogy about an inquisitive Prague boy, experiencing holiday-time adventures while living with his grandfather-guardian (Pod Jezevčí skálou – Beneath Badger Rock, 1978; Na pytlácké stezce – On the Poacher’s Path, 1979; Za trnkovým keřem – Behind the Blackthorn, 1980). The escapist adventures continue with this adaptation of a work by Bohumila Říha. As in the trilogy, the nine-year-old central character is called Vašek – and also embarks on new adventures from a gamekeeper’s lodge. But instead of poachers, the young boy and his friend Dušan (David Strupek) encounter some malicious German snipers. Czech actors Jaroslava Obermaierová, Vítězslav Jandák and Jana Švandová join a cast also featuring Russian and German actors.
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