To the Very End

Director Antonín Kopřiva set his 1984 psychological drama in the Sudetenland at the very end of World War II. Based on a novel by Otakar Chaloupka, the film describes the fates of a handful of Nazis who barricade themselves inside a deserted mansion along with seven young women, forced-labour workers from a local factory. The hostages, kept as a negotiating card to be played when the Red Army arrives, recount their past experiences and derive from each other the courage to face the looming climax. They eventually decide to attempt a desperate escape… Two of the Nazis were played by Eduard Cupák and Vítězslav Jandák. Despite the different nationalities of the film’s heroines, they were all portrayed by young Czech actresses: Veronika Gajerová, Kateřina Lojdová, Eva Kulichová, Yvetta Kornová and Miriam Chytilová.