Stanislav Wandas

The reason for making this film is clear: it was to cover up Vojtěch Jasný's famous chronicle "All the Good Natives", an account of the tragic consequences of forced collectivisation. The pro-regime director Antonín Kachlík also focuses on the socialisation of the Moravian village, accompanied by mistakes and coercion, but in his optimistic view he emphasises the hopeful prospects leading to a happy future. Although the united village lands were born in pain, they will serve for the benefit of all the working people... As with Jasný, Radek Brzobohatý embodies the stubborn peasant, who is only slowly acknowledging the benefits of communal farming. However, unlike the poetic exuberance and pithiness of Jasný's chronicle, here we encounter a vicious posturing.

The leader of the fast-track workers' party is appointed worker director of the unprofitable Lucie mine. The wrong decisions he makes to increase production at any cost and to fulfil an unrealistic plan lead to a catastrophe in which his son is accidentally killed. After overwhelming criticism, the failed director wants to quit, but the senior management and party authorities continue to have faith in him...

Czechoslovak counter-espionage intercepts a coded message from the West German secret service ordering death for an unknown person on Czech territory.