May 1945. On the outskirts of Prague, ordinary people meet Soviet soldiers-liberators with tears of joy in their eyes. In the early days of the lull, someone sadly recalls a pre-war life; someone unexpectedly meets his love; someone is returning from enemy dungeons looking hopefully into the future; and someone, having moved from a tank into a Czech tram, warmly recalls his craft as a car driver... These days, all those who survived the Great War fire swear an oath to keep peace on Earth forever, honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for simple human happiness.
Direction
Rostotsky's tender humanism amid Soviet propaganda constraints.
Writing
Four short stories braided into one fragile moment of history.
Production
Authentic 1945 Prague locations shot fourteen years later.
Director
Stanislav Rostotsky
Aleksandr Khanov
General
Jana Dítětová
Dušan's Mother
Zdeněk Dítě
Dušan's Father
Jana Brejchová
Jana
Ladislav Pešek
School Director
Vyacheslav Tikhonov
Andrey Rukavichkin
Mikhail Pugovkin
Sergeant-major Ivanov
Miloš Nedbal
Pan Novák
Leonid Bykov
Alyosha
Nikolay Kryuchkov
Fedul Platonov
František Kreuzmann
Pepík
Ota Motyčka
Driver
Marta Májová
Old Woman
Yuri Belov
Belov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during Khrushchev's Thaw, the film's cautious optimism now reads as tragic irony given the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Jana Brejchová became Czechoslovakia's biggest star; her character's romance with a Soviet soldier was controversially cut in some Warsaw Pact releases.
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