Kamil Prachař

Goethe’nin bilginin arayışı hakkındaki trajedisinden esinlenen “Faust” 19. yüzyılda geçiyor ve yapıta adını veren, ruhunu şeytana satan kahramanını izliyor. O bir düşünürdür, fikirlerin sözcüsü, haberleri yayan kişidir; entrikacıdır, hayalperesttir. Açlık, açgözlülük, şehvet gibi temel güdülerin yönlendirdiği adsız bir adamdır. Goethe’nin Faust’una meydan okuyan mutsuz, peşine düşülmüş bir varlıktır. İlerlemek mümkünse neden olduğun yerde durasın ki?

Chronicle of frontier division Czech police (SNB) in the years 1946 - 1949.

In May 1945, a broken violinist lies drunk by a creek, haunted by memories of his life before and during WWII. Once the celebrated first violin in spa orchestras, he married Jewish nurse Róza and dreamed of fatherhood, only to face brutal anti-Jewish persecution. Relegated to second violin, he spirals into alcoholism and betrayal, while Róza and their daughter are deported. Cast out by colleagues and lovers, he descends into madness, murdering a vagrant with his violin case. In a final psychotic haze, he tends a roadside Christ statue before collapsing, his shattered life a testament to love, loss, and atrocity.

This lavish Soviet/Czech co-production is based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's famous novel, The Gambler, which tells the story of a Russian living in Germany, in a gambling resort. This film is set at the turn of the century, and was filmed in Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), Czechoslovakia. Played by Nikolai Burlyayev, the gambler succumbs completely to his addiction, using up every resource he has (human, spiritual and financial) in his wagering, finally becoming a rootless drifter.