Coal Tower

Colour, 35mm
Czech Republic, 2002, 98 min
Section: Czech Films

Synopsis

A drug dealer and addict named Jakub decides to liquidate mafia boss Pexeso, convinced that he was involved in the murder of his childhood friend and long-time secret sweetheart, Věra. Jakub plans to take his revenge, with the help of friend Radek, at the opening of a nightclub owned by Pexeso and his brother. When the protagonists realise that the mark and his brother are indistinguishable, the situation becomes more complicated. During the failed assassination attempt, Radek’s girlfriend dies, and Jakub discovers that the circumstances surrounding Věra’s death were quite different from what he had at first imagined.... The film, set within the subculture of big city druggies, narrates a tale of the cruel and destructive influence of drugs. This fresh look at one aspect of youth culture combines, in a rather original way, elements of psychological drama, crime thriller and black comedy.

About the director

Milan Šteindler (b. 1957) graduated in direction from Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU). He first made a name for himself as one of the actor-creators associated with the original poetic vision of Prague’s Sklep Theatre; he is also known for his work with the television show Czech Soda. As a director, he collaborated with screenwriter Halina Pawlowská on the comedy Back to the Grave (1989) – Šteindler’s directorial debut, in which he also played a sociologist who hangs out with secondary schoolers in the interest of research. He and Pawlowská also worked together on the tragicomedy Thanks for Every New Morning (1994), a film dramatising the fate of a more or less ordinary Czech family from the 1960s to the 1990s. The psychological crime drama Gingerbread Tower (2002) focused this time on the more weighty theme of drug use and its consequences.