Nobody Gets the Last Laugh

It is a winter day. Very young, pretty Klára has moved to the attic apartment of thirty-year old Klíma, working as an Evaluative Assistant at the Academy of Fine Arts. Klíma, who doubted their relationship, is soon reconciled with the girl's presence. Klára works as seamstress but longs for the career of a model, and Klíma promises to put in a word for her. The girl reads aloud a letter in which a Záturecký asks Klíma for his professional evaluation of his treatise on the 19th-century Czech painter Mikoláš Aleš, mailed to Klíma some time ago. Klíma cannot find the manuscript, and thus sends Záturecký only an evasive response, totally unaware of the consequences. Záturecký begins to pursue him systematically and obstinately demands a lector's evaluation. Klíma eventually finds the work and finds out that it is solely a compilation of various other treatises, lacking any single bit of scientific value. He does not feel like writing the evaluation and begins to hide from Záturecký. The little hard-headed man who devoted several years to his "scientific research" pursues Klíma both at the faculty and at home. Klíma mistakenly thinks he will get rid of him by accusing him of molesting Klára. Záturecký does not hesitate to involve his wife in the pursuit. A meeting of the house tenants is organized, condemning Klíma's immoral life – he, indeed, lives an unmarried life with a woman! At the faculty, Klíma faces the threat of losing his job. No one believes him that the treatise on Aleš is so poor, just the contrary; the colleagues suggest that Klíma wants to have his revenge. Eventually, the young scientist is left even by Klára.