Lída Hustolesová

A WW I veteran still haunted by his time in the trenches settles in a small town to work for the railroad company. His pretty wife attracts the attention of the lonely young gravedigger.

A remarkable meeting of two completely different beings - not only in age, but also in social and social class - takes place in one day. Zuzanka is a nine-year-old girl who, thanks to her mother's premature departure for the maternity ward, finds herself alone in the apartment of an old tenement house, while Zdenka is the slightly spoiled wife of a successful businessman for whom almost nothing is unattainable. Except for one thing - the ability to have a pure, primary view of the world and a spontaneous reaction to it. What can these two such disparate people give (or even take?) from each other - that's what this present-day story is about.

After World War II, fighter pilot Antonín Maděra returns from England to his native village in the Ore Mountains to forget the hardships and horrors of war and to "live, work, and love his neighbors," as he himself says. But Svatý Štěpán, which his family had to leave in 1939, is no longer the same place it used to be. However, even in his wildest dreams, he could not have imagined what really awaited him there.

Who is this confident man who, with unusual elegance and surprising professionalism, began working at the reception desks of the highest government and party leaders one day? Where did he come from, what are his tasks, and who entrusted him with them? These questions will be pondered in the film by members of the secret services, important and insignificant minions of the powerful, who are convinced that they know every link in the ingeniously opaque chain of relationships and competences of a centrally controlled state. Before the surprising revelation of the mysterious master of ceremonies living a double life, he manages to pull off one last stunt: a monstrous hoax whose consequences can only be tragic.

The psychological story begins innocently enough with a meeting between two young people in the basement of a suburban house. A flirtatious and bored girl, who is not particularly selective about her lovers, provokes an unpredictable reaction in her partner with her unexpected rejection. Not only does the boy rape the girl, but, fearing discovery, he kills her. All this is witnessed by a little boy wandering through the holiday-empty house, who thus becomes an inconvenient and dangerous witness for the murderer. The psychological and later physical "battle" between these two unequal opponents, who are not really opponents at all, culminates in a story of guilt and punishment, and at the same time of a special friendship and loyalty.

During the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the main characters of the story meet in a village pub. A traveling magician performs his variety show there with his assistant and current lover, with whom the local innkeeper had an affair in the past. The assistant would like to settle down, as she is tired of the traveling life. However, after an argument, the magician kicks her out. Hiding in the tavern's cellar is a young 16-year-old girl, half-Jewish, who is fascinated by the magician's performance. The innkeepers have been hiding her there somewhat against their will. When the girl runs away with the magician, they feel somewhat relieved. But only until they realize what would happen if the girl revealed where she was hiding.

Every one of us has certainly been in a situation for which he or she is not prepared and is not able to orient him or herself immediately and correctly. And the hero of our story also finds out in a rather unpleasant way that it leads to a number of misunderstandings and bitter mistakes... Jaroslav Falta (J. Abrhám), a nondescript clerk, cannot resist the pressure of several people interested in buying his aunt's house after the hospitalization of his wealthy aunt (A. Hegerlíková). He is charmed and won over by the charm of a colleague from work - Alenka (J. Asterová) - after departure of his girlfriend on a business trip.

A professional card player and swindler, Icharev, arrives in a small town with a plan to rip off some local jackdaw if possible. However, a trio of local, experienced swindlers have the same plan. They want to play cards with Icharev, but they immediately recognize each other's personalities. The fun continues, but the group regrets that they have no one to play with. There is a local landowner, Glov, but he avoids cards like the devil. And yet he is waiting for two hundred thousand rubles from the bank for the sold piece of land. Of course, the gentlemen will not miss their chance... A recording of a theatrical production by the Drama Club in Prague.