Summary
While working on a tragicomedy based on treatment for alcoholism, the director Dušan Klein got back together with the writer and screenwriter Ladislav Pecháček, with whom the experienced filmmaker has long been associated, not only thanks to the series about “poets” inspired by the writer’s novel Amatéři (Amateurs), but also their joint adaptations of the novels Dobří holubi se vracejí (Good Pigeons Fly Home) and Vážení přátelé, ano (Yes, My Dear Friends!, 1989). In keeping with the original literary work, this 1988 film is ostensibly a funny tale about patients in a drying-out clinic, struggling – more or less successfully – with their dependence on alcohol. Beneath the surface, however, the authors pose questions relating to a person’s inner values and the fact that an individual is not always able to lead his own life according to the expectations of those around him. The protagonist is a stoker in the National Theatre, Miloš Lexa, who ignominiously loses his job to the demon drink and who also loses – or so it seems to him – any possible affection from his platonic love, the soprano Soňa. The tough regime that reigns in the clinic where Lexa is forced to dry out is purgatory for the freethinking newcomer. Besides abstinence, the doctors also require their patients to follow a strict way of life and demand that they exhibit an ability to resist various temptations. The hero’s journey to a new start in life is not easy. However, he is ultimately helped find a way to get himself back together by his literary talent… Besides the interesting subject matter and Klein’s professional direction, the qualities of this film that proved a hit with audiences also included, above all, a top-class cast. Each of the characters has a subtly revealed, colourful and interesting past, which they bring with them to the monotonous atmosphere of the treatment clinic. Milan Kňažko excels in the role of Miloš Lexa, giving his character a convincing boyish tenacity. The group of patients is persuasively played by Vladimír Menšík, Marián Labuda, and Zdeněk Řehoř. Josef Somr sparkles in the role of a senior consultant while Rudolf Hrušínský plays the sleazy nurse, Masák.
Read more
