film_summary
Directed by František Vláčil, this 1984 film, adapted from a novel by Josef Čapek, was written by Vladimír Körner. The highly experienced director planned for a number of years to make an adaptation of this story, but only realised his dream at the end of his filmmaking career. Along with cinematographer František Uldrich, Vláčil brings to life a concept in which the main characters’ stories are interwoven with the shots of the natural world, which form an integral part of the overall narrative. The main protagonists of Stín kapradiny (The Shadow of a Fern, 1984) are two poachers, Ruda Aksamit and Vašek Kala, on the run from the law after one of them shot and killed a gamekeeper. They end up wandering aimlessly through the woods, becoming increasingly alienated from each other, and causing more irreparable damage… Director Vláčil casts two Polish actors in the main roles: Marek Probosz and Zbigniew Suszynski. Miroslav Macháček appears as the gamekeeper.
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