This fascinating historical drama looks at the life of "the Czech Schindler," Zdenek Toman, a controversial figure who was an unsavory politician and dubious entrepreneur, but also the savior of hundreds of Eastern European Jews.
Acting
Macháček's smarmy charm makes you root for a villain.
Production
Period-detail perfection: 1940s Prague looks lived-in, not museum-piece.
Writing
Refuses easy redemption. Toman stays complicated.
Director
Ondřej Trojan
Jiří Macháček
Zdeněk Toman
Kateřina Winterová
Pesla Tomanová
Stanislav Majer
Rudolf Slánský
Kristýna Boková
Milada Třískalová
Petr Vaněk
Gaynor Jacobson
Roman Luknár
Jan Masaryk
Martin Finger
kpt. Adolf Püchler
Jaromír Dulava
Václav Nosek
Marek Taclík
pplk. Bedřich Reicin
Marián Mitaš
kpt. Karel Vaš
Lukáš Melník
kpt. František Kuracina
Václav Neužil
Bedřich Pokorný
Miroslav Táborský
Jindřich Veselý
Ondřej Malý
Aladar Berger
Lukáš Latinák
Vlado Clementis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Ondřej Trojan spent years accessing secret police files; Toman was literally erased from Czech history until 1989.
The real Toman's daughter consulted on the film and still defends him—adding another layer of unreliable narration to an already slippery subject.
CZ
