The film is a concert of well-known actors from an alcohol rehab where a middle-aged man has taken refuge to get rid of his addiction. In the rehab, cruelty is personified by the attendant who, with sadistic satisfaction, hands out demerit points for the slightest sign of displeasure or rebellion.
Acting
Ensemble cast of Czech legends at their most raw and vulnerable.
Writing
Dialogue that cuts like cheap vodka—sharp, burning, weirdly warming.
Director
Dušan Klein
Milan Kňažko
Miloš Lexa
Alicja Jachiewicz
Soňa Landová
Vladimír Menšík
Honzíček
Rudolf Hrušínský
Hlavní ošetřovatel Masák
Jiří Hálek
Čtvrtečka
Marián Labuda
Dorenda
Zdeněk Řehoř
Zlámal
Rudolf Hrušínský
Obuli
Josef Somr
Primář Dobrotka
Jan Přeučil
Psycholog Voňka
Oldřich Navrátil
Arteterapeut Křížek
Pavel Zedníček
Muclinger
Jan Skopeček
Ošetřovatel Okrouhlický
Petr Čepek
Strýc Karel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Vladimír Menšík was genuinely struggling with alcohol during filming, lending his performance devastating authenticity.
Released months before the Velvet Revolution, the film's institutional oppression read as thinly-veiled communist critique to Czech audiences.
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