Czech New Wave meets midlife crisis: what if you got a death sentence and decided to LIVE?
The dramatic story of Karel Svozil, an aging professor of art history, tells of love and old age, illness, death and the worries of everyday life with a humorous touch. A diagnosis of a cancerous tumour unexpectedly interferes with the life of the wise and sophisticated man and his love affair with the much younger Alena, leading him to contemplate suicide. However, the gloomy thoughts are soon replaced by feverish activity, with which Professor Svozil tries to make the most of his remaining time. He finishes his book, marries his mistress, and openly speaks out against his superior. However, an accident radically changes the whole situation.
Acting
Kopecký's sardonic wit masking genuine terror.
Writing
Suicide contemplation played for bleak laughs.
Director
Jaromil Jireš
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during late Communist Czechoslovakia, the film's critique of institutional power (Svozil's public denunciation of his superior) carried subversive weight beyond its personal narrative.
Director Jaromil Jireš was a key figure of the Czech New Wave who directed 1969's controversial 'The Joke'; this quieter later work shares its interest in how systems crush individual dignity.
XC
