Film Archive

The Confidant

Czech Films 2011–2012 2012 / eŠteBák / Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Poland 2011

A tale of suspense from a time when state power invaded people’s privacy more than was strictly healthy. When a young ham radio operator named Adam decides to become an agent, it’s not because he wants to hurt others. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s brought uncertainty into his otherwise happy relationship. And he doesn’t know that he himself is being watched.

Synopsis

Adam and Eva love each other but the times are conspiring to prevent them from fulfilling their dreams. So the new husband decides to take a job that will secure an apartment for the happy couple – but might also break them apart. On top of that, he’s carrying a burden that could, if the authorities wish it, turn against him and his loved ones. Set in a period when even liking Led Zeppelin didn’t mean that people could joke with you about the Soviet Union, this dramatic story presents a typical hero who, although he yields to the advantages associated with working as a secret agent, tries to maintain a limit: to accept things that help him and his family but that don’t hurt others. Given the nature of his profession, however, this isn’t entirely possible, and so sooner or later he can expect to discover, with regret, whose life he turned upside down in order to live more contentedly. The picture shows its protagonist as an essentially good person, emphasizing the compromises demanded by the times, and why so many were willing to make them.

About the film

108 min / Color, DCP

Director Juraj Nvota / Screenplay Ľubomír Slivka / Dir. of Photography Jan Malíř / Music Natalia Grosiak, Dawid Korbaczyński / Editor Alois Fišárek / Producer Katarína Vanzurová, Ľubomír Slivka / Production Attack film / Cast Jiří Mádl, Michaela Majerníková, Ondřej Vetchý, Jan Budař, Vladimir Hajdu / Contact Bontonfilm, a.s., et cetera group / Distributor Bontonfilm, a.s.
www: www.estebak.sk

About the director

Juraj Nvota (b. 1954, Bratislava) graduated in theater direction. After several acting experiences, one of which hooked him up with Dušan Hanák for Rose Tinted Dreams (1976), he debuted in 1982 as a theater director, and subsequently worked with numerous top Slovak theaters. Since the 1990s he has directed for both film and, primarily, television. His poetic film Cruel Joys (2002) screened in the main competition at the Karlovy Vary festival. Then followed the East of the West competition entry Music (2007), whose protagonists use song to stand up to communist rule. He also teaches, and continues to direct for the theater. Once in a while he accepts an acting gig, and was recently seen in Ondřej Trojan’s Identity Card (2010).