Thirty minutes, one corpse, zero dignity — your first night shift from hell.
Zdena, a young nurse, starts her first night shift at an old people’s home and immediately faces a difficult task: she has to deal with the body of a deceased client. A gentle portrait of faltering youth and a realistic tale of an encounter with death in a blend of physically intense moments and absurd humour.
Acting
Barešová's deadpan terror is perfect.
Direction
Chmela finds beauty in bureaucratic horror.
Director
Igor Chmela
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title references a Venetian boat song — traditionally sung by gondoliers, here transformed into a death-dirge for those ferrying souls between worlds.
Czech cinema has a long tradition of 'cosmic bureaucracy' — think Hrabal or Menzel — where institutional absurdity becomes its own character.
CZ
