Seducer

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2002, 90 min
Section: Czech Films

Synopsis

Martina is a successful Czech government minister, her husband Karel, on the other hand, is a bankrupt entrepreneur. Their marriage is in crisis – Martina accuses Karel of infidelity and he criticises her for not agreeing to a divorce – such a move would have a negative effect on her position and dazzling political career. So Karel opts for an untraditional solution: he asks his friend Ota, owner of an advertising agency and celebrated skirt-chaser, to seduce Martina. Karel plans to secretly document the affair on video in order to get incontestable proof for the divorce courts. However, as is usually the case, things turn out differently from the original script. The carousel of lies, intrigue, pretence and manipulation starts to turn. This bitter-sweet comedy highlights the warped relationships in this matrimonial triangle and their callous handling of emotions where everyone tries to harm everyone else but, in the end, they hurt themselves the most. This is the second feature film for screenwriter and director Andrea Sedláčková, based on a court-room report in the French press. The film is vaguely reminiscent of one of Kundera’s stories from the collection Laughable Loves. Ivan Trojan, who plays Karel, won a Czech Lion in 2002 for Best Actor.

About the director

Andrea Sedláčková (b. 1967, Prague) studied screenwriting and script editing at FAMU in 1986-1989. After emigrating to France in 1989, she studied film editing and direction at FEMIS in Paris (1990-1993). She lives both in Prague and Paris. While in Paris she works mainly as an editor (working with e.g. Jacques Maillot and Michel Deville), since 1991 she has made a number of documentaries for Czech Television: What Were You Doing in November (1994), The People Who Judge Us, Too (1996), Dance of the MPs (1997), Quick Starts (1998) and the feature film From the Life of a Pubescent Girl (1999), filmed to her own screenplay. She debuted in feature film with the ambitious psychological drama about sibling incest Victims and Murderers (2000). The intimate bitter-sweet comedy Seducer is her second feature, which was also made in association with Czech Television.