Jiří Švejda

Antonín Kachlík wanted to make committed films about the moral dilemmas of the working class, but in the era of normalisation, he could only proclaim how faltering individuals would eventually come to the desired thinking. This is also true of the adaptation of Jiří Švejda's book about the wavering career of a young brickmaking technologist - the simplistic drawing of characters and plots, the posterishly lifeless language and the textbook discussion of social ills are all objectionable; the ideal becomes the code of the socialist builder.

Technical school student Pavel Brychta, arrives at a youth correctional facility located within a chateau in Konečno. He is an atypical, but not hopeless case for the institution. Pavel comes from a well-off family and his antisocial behaviour on the verge of criminality was some kind of response to his difficult relationship with his authoritative father. However, it takes quite some effort for Pavel to find his place in this environment of bullying, and also diverse methods from the tutors

Wild Swine is actually an ironic name for the great search operation of Prague's criminologists, who in a tangle of criminal activity of various kinds were digging around like wild swine before they managed to solve a complicated case. The story takes place in a variety of social spheres, from the Roma people to the world of Prague prostitutes and bakshellers to prominent people.

A divorced single mother romances a young slaughterhouse worker, must to the chagrin of her ex-husband.

The idea of mystery unites the three debut stories - the original Bermuda Triangle with its mysterious phenomena has begun to shift and can be traced anywhere in the world, including Czech and Slovak territory. Here, too, unexplained shifts in space and time occur. This idea is supported by the aforementioned short stories, but the inventiveness of the subject matter and staging is very heavy-handed, and the film passed through the cinemas without much interest.

In the 1980s, the building themes were transformed into bipolar moral dilemmas involving overly ambitious individuals who wanted to excel at any cost. The hero is the head of a demolition crew that demolishes large buildings, initially a sympathetic young man who, in the pursuit of career and accolades, begins to transgress the boundaries of what was then called socialist morality and legality. He gradually finds himself at odds with the principles of ordinary but honest people. The narrative's bland, proclamatory film is closely connected to its time of creation, and there are hardly any more timeless insights to be found.

In 18th century Bohemia, the mercenary troops of a cruel duke roam the countryside. A cap maker who defends himself against injustice is thrown into prison. His ten-year-old son tries to free his father with the help of his friends of the same age and a magic cap, but the duke's henchmen are soon after the magic cap.