To the Knowledge of Your Beloved

The human feelings which can arise between two young people of different backgrounds, in spite of all logic and sense for self-preservation, inspired writer Karel Zídek to pen the novel Oznamuje se láskám vašim (To the Knowledge of Your Beloved). Noted director Karel Kachyňa then adapted this work into a screenplay, before filming the romantic drama in 1988. Set in the autumn of 1944, young Czech sailor Karel Svorník serves as the modern-day Romeo in this story. Juliet, meanwhile, comes by way of the enchanting Ulrika from Dresden, a member of the Hitler Youth. Unlike the Shakespearean patriarch Capulet, Ulrika’s father is the commander of a Nazi concentration camp. Given the impending end of the war, the star-crossed couple opts for marriage. Alas, their love, borne of dark times, can only end in tragedy in the subsequent era of peace. Lukáš Vaculík and Markéta Hrubešová take the lead roles in this stylish romantic drama.