The singularity of the ten individuals portrayed in this work – inhabitants of a remote mountainous region of Slovakia – rattled the former regime to the extent that the film was locked away in the vault for many years. Nonetheless, the director, inspired by the photographs of Martin Martinček, demonstrated considerable sensibility and invention in his documentary poem, whose underlying message is supremely humane. Hanák’s villagers, decrepit through old age and harsh living conditions, resemble ancient trees with twisted branches which even the most destructive gales have failed to uproot. At life’s end, weak, lonely and sick, these people wrestle with their destiny each day, unwavering and without a word of complaint. Though sorely tried by fate, when asked “what has value in life?”, they give the timid response: people… love…