6.578 minSeason 1 • Episode 3
LatestBased on real characters and events, this haunting drama focuses on the personal sacrifice of a Prague history student, Jan Palach, who set himself on fire in protest against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1969. Dagmar Burešová, a young female lawyer, became part of his legacy by defending Jan's family in a trial against the communist government, a regime which tried to dishonour Palach’s sacrifice, a heroic action for the freedom of Czechoslovakia.
Direction
Holland's patient, unflinching gaze at bureaucratic evil.
Acting
Pauhofová's quiet fury as a lawyer who knows she's losing.
Writing
Dialogue so restrained it screams.
Creator
Agnieszka Holland
Tatiana Pauhofová
Dagmar Burešová
Jaroslava Pokorná
Libuše Palachová
Petr Stach
Jiří Palach
Vojtěch Kotek
Ondřej Trávníček
Patrik Děrgel
Pavel Janda
Martin Huba
Vilém Nový
Igor Bareš
Major Dočekal
Adrian Jastraban
Vladimír Charouz
Jan Budař
Radim Bureš
Ivan Trojan
Major Jireš
Denny Ratajský
Lieutenant Boček
Jenovéfa Boková
Vlaďka Charouzová
David Novotný
Sýkora (attorney)
Emma Smetana
Hana Čížková
Taťjana Medvecká
Doctor Ziková
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Agnieszka Holland was blacklisted by Czechoslovakia's communist government and couldn't return until 1989; this was her first project filmed there since.
Jan Palach's suicide became a forbidden memory under normalization; Holland's series helped restore his name to public consciousness in 2013, 44 years later.
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