7.080 minSeason 1 • Episode 5
LatestStanda Pekárek has three wishes in life: to drive a volga, to drive for the Humour and Folk Entertainment editorial office and to drive Got'ák. The five-part miniseries Volha is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Karel Hynia, written in an extraordinary, bizarre and precisely echoed language. It can be perceived as a peculiar history of Czechoslovak television with a number of incredible, albeit real, "stories from the set". At the same time, however, it is a portrait of its main character - a limited egocentric who excels in inventing small tricks and deceptions - how to steal petrol, fake mileage, cheat his wife, get rid of the competition. Logically, he then also becomes a StB collaborator (with the code name Volha) who informs on all his co-workers and passengers without any remorse.
Acting
Kryštof Hádek's infuriatingly charming slimeball performance.
Production
Painstaking 1970s Czech TV recreation — down to the bad lighting.
Writing
Hynia's bizarre, echoing prose adapted with vicious wit.
Creator
Karel Hynie
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The novel's 'precisely echoed language' refers to Hynia's use of bureaucratic Czech jargon that loses meaning the more you hear it — the show replicates this through repetitive dialogue patterns.
The real Humour and Folk Entertainment editorial office was notorious for crushing creative talent under communist television bureaucracy; many characters are thinly veiled portraits of actual Czech TV figures from the Normalization era.
CZ
