Summary
Screenwriter Jiří Křižan wrote the screenplay to this adventure film for young audiences according to a short story by Jack London, and director Zdenek Sirový undertook its realisation in 1989. The authors had already worked together on another London project, the short film stories Kaňon samé zlato (A Canyon Full of Gold, 1970), Poslední výstřel Davida Sandela (David Sandel's Last Shot, 1971) and Claim na Hluchém potoku (The Claim at the Deaf Creek, 1971). The protagonist of this gripping story, the outdoor shots for which were filmed in the Altai Mountains during the Soviet era, is 14-year-old Ben. The teenaged boy, who has to do menial work in a camp full of rough gold diggers, experiences all kinds of adventures on his journey to the Southwest – to civilisation. Sirový entrusted the lead role in this straightforward genre film to the then 16-year-old Jiří Strach. Another future Czech director, Jan Hřebejk, appears briefly on the screen in the role of a young man in a funeral cortege.
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