Soňa Ondroušková

In his feature debut, Dneska přišel nový kluk (A New Boy Started Today) from 1981, the director Vladimír Drha set the tone for a number of Czech films, which critically depicted the state of society from the perspective of young protagonists. Although, Drha primarily found scope for his work in television, he returned to the world of a “working youth” in his second film Mezek (The Mulish Victor, 1985) – albeit following him from the point of view of an educator. NFA.CZ

At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries Boleslav's kingdom fell apart in the fratricidal war between the Přemyslovci and the other clans the main profiteer of this being the German emperor. At that time it seemed as if the Czech state and the lineage of its princes was awaiting its end..." It is with these words that the tale of this film begins, whose narrative is based upon the the play by František Hrubín of the same name.

A young man from a poor proletarian family successfully graduates from university, meets a girl who grew up in an orphanage - and surprises his surroundings, greedy relatives and a friend from a rich bourgeois family, by refusing any benefits. He regularly visits his parents to help them build their house, trying to act honestly at all times.