Summary
The doyen of Czech film directing, Otakar Vávra, added his last title to his filmography in 1989. This historical fresco from the 78-year-old film-maker was not able to count on a budget as big as that of his “Hussite” trilogy or modern day opuses such as Dny zrady (The Days of Betrayal, 1973). However, Miloš V. Kratochvíl’s novel flattered Vávra’s notions of what a comprehensive history should be and he strove to give viewers a reconstruction of Central European historical events through a Communist ideological lens. Kratochvíl, who had cooperated with Vávra several times before, also wrote the screenplay that depicts events leading to the outbreak of the First World War. This mosaic (also using archive materials) combines the fictional tale of archivist Kavana (Jiří Bartoška). Through his love for Serbian student Draga (Zora Jandová), the protagonist finds himself experiencing the proverbial wheel of history that ruthlessly crushes human destinies.
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