Five men, jungle heat, and sanity's last stand — who needs enemies?
Pacific Island - 1945. Five American soldiers were sent to reconnoiter the Japanese rear. Surrounded by unpredictable jungle and terrible heat, they have been moving in unknown territory for over two weeks in order to find the enemy. Commander Grackmiller, due to the fatigue of the rest of the platoon, takes it upon himself to scout the area ahead of them, and the soldiers Smile, Burda, Tall and Rozden are to wait for him and hold position. The heat to kill, exhaustion and nervousness soon begin to take a toll on their sanity and morale. Unafraid to say anything to each other's faces, vigilance and caution are completely gone and paranoia and suspicion take over instead. After a while, strange noises start coming from the jungle, which Smile goes to investigate, and comes back pale as death...
Acting
Macháček's unravelling commander is genuinely unsettling.
Direction
Theatre veterans Smoček and Sís stage hell as humid chamber piece.
Production
Jungle shot in Czechoslovakia — the fakery becomes the point.
Director
Vladimír Sís
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rare 1968 Czech film confronting WWII through American soldiers — the Iron Curtain's sideways gaze at 'Nam before 'Nam.
Based on Smoček's own play; the directors were legendary theatre figures with almost no film experience, which explains the suffocating staginess.
XC
