Walking Too Fast

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2010, 146 min
Section: Czech Films 2010 - 2011

Synopsis

Czechoslovakia, 1982. It seems there is no end in sight for people living under the totalitarian regime. State security agent Antonín is one of its loyal, cold-blooded, brutal henchmen, yet, deep inside, he harbours unvoiced anger, resentment and despair. The lonely, uprooted thug begins to lose control of his psychopathic tendencies – and the object of his interest is Klára, the young lover of the persecuted dissident Tomáš, whom Antonín attempts to force into emigration. Instead of love and understanding, however, Antonín looks to Klára for an escape from boredom. Antonín’s pointless efforts to get Klára for himself turn him not only against the traditional enemies of the regime, but also against his own people.... This sinister thriller, whose intriguing and complicated hero finds himself battling with inner demons, was the highest award-winning Czech film of last year. It garnered Czech Lions and Czech Film Critics Awards not only for Best Film, but also for direction, screenplay, cinematographer, and Best Actor.

About the director

Radim Špaček (b. 1973, Ostrava) studied acting and from 1991 worked as assistant director on foreign coproductions. He debuted with a drama set during the Siege of Sarajevo Young Men Discovering the World (1996 – Ecumenical Jury Prize, Karlovy Vary IFF). He studied film direction at FAMU, graduating with Rapid Eye Movement (1998), a feature-length drama told in reverse chronology. With a grant from DAAD foundation (Germany) he spent six months in Berlin writing the script for the film Good Intentions. He was involved as director on the engagé documentaries Report on the State of the World (2001), Sleepless Nights (2004) and Bystander Effect (2008). He made several magazine programmes for Czech Television (mainly on alternative culture) and, for Prima TV, he filmed various episodes of the series "Airport” (2006-07) and "Foot Faults” (2009).