A strongly lyrical, quasi-balladic black-and-white piece that acquaints us with fragments of the lives of people from a small village hidden in the depths of the Bohemian Forest. The characters appear to move about in a state of timelessness; their inner solitude, frustrated desires, and the sense that they are condemn…

Jurácek's feature debut is shot in two parts. In the first, a corporal accompanies a new recruit with a sore Achilles tendon for his physical, and all the girls or young women they see are played by the same actress (Ruzickova). In the lon…