Karel Faltys

The tale of the Venetian gondolier whose desire for revenge following a thwarted love affair leads him to Bohemia. The intricate plot also deals with destinies of other characters, who finally come together in a dramatic encounter at one time and in one place. In his role as screenwriter and director, Anton produced a highly accomplished version of Mácha’s work. He respected the original but was also able, along with the DoP Karel Kopřiva, to capitalise on the possibilities that the film medium offered. For the Venice prologue, the filmmakers exploited the photogenic qualities of the city – the narrow streets, the lagoons, gondolas and the sea – and they moved the set to the enigmatic Czech landscape around the castle of Kokořín.

The name day of Mr. Fiala: The husband catches his wife with his friend. In the ensuing argument the husband is insulted and attacked. The lovers believe him to be dead and carry him from the house out into the street. Drunkards find him there and they think they have have killed him. They stand him against a wall with his face in the window of a miser who has just been counting his money. The miser punches the man in the head and takes the "corpse" to river and throws it in.

Venice Film Festival 1937