That Instant, That While

What Jiří Sequens' films have in common is that they can easily transport the viewer to the time in which they are set within a few minutes. I don't know how he did it, but this director was a real whiz at atmosphere. Moreover, when he got his hands on a simple but well-written script full of characters, and when he was lucky with the actors, many good things came out of it. The same is the case with this little-known film called That Instant, That While. František Němec in the title role is perfect, and so is Daniela Kolářová (moreover, I have the feeling that she never looked more beautiful than here), Rudolf Jelínek again plays the sympathetic Zemanovský Jirka Hradec, only his name is different... And then, of course, there is Luděk Munzar as a charming SS man who proves that he was perhaps born for negative characters. I got over the fact that heroic communist resistance fighters played a big role in the story. The only thing I missed in the film was the music by Sequens' court composer Zdeněk Liška, who was already seriously ill at the time of its creation. (10/01/2011)