Odd Friendships of the Actor Jesenius

This 1985 adaptation of Ivan Olbracht’s 1919 novel became the last title in the vast filmography of director Karel Steklý (1903–1987). The novelist’s elaborately crafted work takes to task “malevolent reclusiveness” through the performances of two actor-characters of opposite temperaments – unrestrained, free-thinking anarchist Veselý and temperate humanist Jesenius. The ethical victory in this drama, set in the era of the First World War, goes to Veselý. He is willing to give up his life for socially progressive ideals of his time… The feature film, which Steklý also informed as the screenwriter, turns on the traditional conflict between active and passive attitudes in life. Olbracht´s stance and the contemporary ideology of the 1980s vindicate Veselý, rendered in this formally conservative feature by Pavel Trávníček. Alfred Strejček stars as Jesenius.