Marek Pavlovský

A fairy tale full of mystery, love, and heroic battles. A story about the love of Knight Cornelius and comedian Vendelin for a mysterious beauty, about whom legend says that when she cries, real pearls roll down her cheeks.

Otakar Vávra dedicated his latest film to events accompanying the devastation of the first World War. It takes place in representative centers of power, in the courts of Vienna, Berlin and Moscow. In parallel, it develops the fate of the Czech archivist, who will take part in the Serbian anti-Austrian branch.

This dramatic story concerns the fateful night of March 14-15, 1939, when President Dr. Emil Hácha was forced to sign a document legalizing the establishment of the so-called Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Screenwriter J. S. Kupka conceived this historical event as a human drama about a man who is faced with the decision of whether to comply with Nazi dictates or risk bloodshed.

The protagonist is the ordinary and still blameless Evžen Macík, who one day, while waiting for his lover Maria, witnesses a robbery of a savings bank. When the robber drops a briefcase with half a million in loot, the loot falls in front of Evžen, who can't resist, picks it up and disappears. He knows that someone might have seen him at the scene of the crime, so he turns himself in as a witness to Captain Richter, who is investigating the case. Shortly thereafter, however, Maciek is contacted by the robber, who begins to force him to hand over the money with constant threats, initially only by telephone. In addition to pressure from the robber, pressure from the police is added because Captain Richter correctly suspects that Macík is hiding something from him. The mounting pressure leads to Eugene starting to make mistakes.