Man versus Ruin

Štěpán Skalský, 1989

Film at Filmový přehled

Summary

The personality of early twentieth century writer Karel Čapek had for a very long time not received the reflection it deserved in Czechoslovak film. Just prior to the 1989 “Velvet Revolution”, the difficult task of encapsulating the writer’s life was taken on by director Štěpán Skalský. Although his motion picture, conceived as the fragmentary memories of a sick writer, did not get its premiere until 1990, Člověk proti zkáze (Man versus Ruin, 1989) is a good example of a work that mirrored the relaxation of censorship at the start of the 1990s, demonstrated by the fact that the character of Čapek’s close friend – President Masaryk – appears in the story. The character of Masaryk had otherwise been anxiously avoided by domestic cinematography for whole decades. The focal role of the film is played by Josef Abrhám, who performs the character of Čapek with a humane credibility as well as exceptional professional application.
Read more

Film data

About a film

Production year 1989
Countries Czechoslovakia
Categories film
Genres biography
Form feature
Duration 89 min
Director Štěpán Skalský
Cast Josef Abrhám, Hana Maciuchová, František Řehák, Věra Galatíková, Libuše Šafránková, Johana Tesařová
Director of photography Jaromír Šofr
Screenplay Štěpán Skalský, Otto Zelenka
Editor Jiří Brožek
Production designer Karel Lier
Music Zdeněk Pololáník
Sound designer Jiří Lenoch