Ladislav Goral

Martin is an innocent lad from small-town Mlada Boleslav who comes to big-city Prague, hoping to exchange his krona for deutschemarks so that he can visit Germany. A local spiv named Robert obliges Martin, but at an unfair exchange rate. When Martin finds out he was rooked, he plans revenge on Robert ... but then decides to join Robert's gang instead.

An aging professor at a Prague neurological clinic is forced to confront his personal values and the harsh boundaries of medical science. Already burdened by the ultimate questions of life and death, his ethical convictions are put to the test by Víťa, a young patient with an inoperable tumor.

Unemployed and in search of work, a young man gets roped into a series of shady schemes that unite a former band of money launderers.

This downbeat, grim drama about three brothers who are reunited at their mother's funeral is actually visually as dark as its story, making it difficult at times to clearly distinguish a scene. These brothers are not particularly exceptional as people go, but at least they have branched out into separate vocations in their lives. One brother is a doctor, another is a criminal, and the third is a bus driver. Like others in Europe, they suffered through World War II, yet no matter what their backgrounds and experiences, their interpersonal relationships are not exactly gripping drama.

In an unusual, apolitical approach, director Jaromil Jires has fashioned a standard drama that features an older lawyer with failing health who goes to practice in the countryside. His series of odd court cases reveals more about the human condition than about law. In one of these litigations a wayward nephew has cheated his elderly aunt out of her savings. In court, the nephew insists the money was a gift, but his aunt explains she only gave him the money as a loan. Although the lawyer technically wins the case, everything of value seems lost in the meantime. His services are paid for in rabbits because the aunt has no currency, and in the end, the nephew cons his aunt into parting with her savings anyway. Other cases expose similar types of petty corruption.

In a school somewhere in the border region, a young teacher is trying to integrate Romani children into the classroom. But their families remain suspicious of education. The filmmakers have chosen a largely romantic view that does not penetrate beneath the surface. They have included numerous folklore examples, acting as the most attractive element. The real problems can thus only be imagined.

Detective Weiner probes the death of Tomáš Ruml, found in a ruined house. Son of the architect behind a planned gypsy-quarter demolition, Tomáš seems a revenge victim, until Weiner meets Naha and uncovers Tomáš’ blackmail, rape and theft. Guided by baron Tancos, he must rethink the case from a new angle.

"Why is my son stupid?" laments the poor Roma coal miner. His son Dilino is a nice boy, but he still causes his parents a lot of worry. He hasn't picked up much sense, so he's not much use to the coal family, and he's got all kinds of crazy ideas on top of that. For example, he began to force his unfortunate father to go and ask for the hand of the princess herself for him!

Two mismatched lovers struggle to find happiness in an unaccepting society in this drama. Marie is a woman of Romany heritage who works at a hospital in the Czech Republic. Marie wants to quietly assimilate into the culture around her, a notion that offenders her brother Tibor, who is proud of is Romany blood and must often defend himself against insults from his co-workers at a sawmill. One of Tibor's greatest antagonists is Wagan, who is friends with Frantisek, another sawmill employee with a passionate interest in Native American culture. Frantisek meets Marie by chance, and an immediate attraction blooms between them; however, Marie is already engaged to Martin, and Tibor will not hear of her leaving her fiancée for a Czech, especially one who is friends with Wagan. Frantisek discovers Wagan and his other friends are no more accepting of Marie, but their ridicule doesn't change the way he feels about her. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The fate of an unlucky director of a dismantled cultural house who temporarily believes in the meaningfulness of his actions, exposed to the pressure of many different difficulties.