Lovers and Murderers

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2004, 108 min
Section: Czech Films 2004-2005
Oficiální stránky: www.milenciavrazi.cz

Synopsis

A ramshackle First Republic industrialist’s villa on the periphery of Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia. It’s the summer of 1966 and now the house belongs to the Kotex chemical factory. In addition to the factory manager’s apartment, the building also contains factory boarding rooms and other dismal premises, home to
itinerant and permanent residents. Here begins a tale focusing on the lives of a young and ambitious engineer, Borek Trojan, and the woman who pines for him with unrequited love - the manager’s wife, Zita, addicted to him and alcohol. There’s also the “too pure” Julda Serafín with his Christian view of the world, and his sister Madda, professing only the delights of the body. But everything here is subordinate to the explosive power of hatred, the desire for the pleasures of love, and the need to fulfil personal and professional ambitions. Polesný’s feature debut Lovers and Murderers represents another adaptation of the work of Czech literary great Vladimír Páral.

About the director

Viktor Polesný (b. 1948, Prague) graduated in documentary direction from Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU) in 1977, and then worked at Czechoslovak Television and Krátký film Praha. His extensive and genre-comprehensive work has been broadcast primarily on television. In addition to television documentaries, made-for-TV movies and productions (among many others, for example, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, awarded at several TV festivals) Polesný directs cultural, music and entertainment programmes. He has also directed for the theatre. His film adaptation of Lovers and Murderers (2005), based on the Vladimír Páral novel of the same name, is his feature film debut.