This 1984 psychological crime drama charts the relationship between a recently escaped prisoner and his young associate. Director Stanislav Strnad helmed this Czech-Polish coproduction, co-writing the script with Jan Novotný. Eighteen-year-old small-time thief Pavel chances upon habitual offender Volf, who has just escaped from prison. Volf forces Pavel to become a partner in crime, needing an accomplice to help cross the border into Poland, from where he hopes to continue on to Sweden. However, the vigilant police on both sides of the border are hot on the pair’s heels… For actor Ladislav Potměšil, the role of Volf represented a rare chance at a “serious” role. Pavel is played by the somewhat forgotten actor Tomáš Vacek. Popular actors Rudolf Jelínek and Jiří Kodet appear as two plainclothes detectives chasing the outlaws.
Pavel Kunz, who just turned eighteen, lives on robbing cottages and on minor thefts. He was hitherto only punished by terms in youth reformatory homes due to his low age. The recidivist Karel Volf is an experienced and unscrupulous robber and a brute. He served an eight-year sentence and, on his escape, severely wounds a doorkeeper in the nearby factory, seizing his weapon. Chance brings Kunz and Volf together in one of the cottages. The older man forces the youngster to emigrate with him, otherwise threatening to violate his girlfriend Magda - the only person who Pavel cares for and who has no idea about his actions. Volf looks up Magda's address and looks in Pavel's materials. They get American dollars for their journey from an underhand moneychanger, paying him by money from yet another theft, and Volf beats the man to oblivion for his attempt to blackmail them. The detectives from Brno and Prague carefully collect leads and testimonies. The duo is helped by Pavel's capability to orientate in an unknown environment after a map as well as by his apparently higher intelligence. But Volf always prevents him from surrendering to the police and moreover shoots the detective, Major Janda, while escaping from a police encirclement in a forest. The runaways get to Poland and try to continue to Sweden near the town of Gdańsk with the help of the local underworld. They are, however, deceived by the guide and again end up on a Polish shore after a night sailing on the sea. They are already expected by the Polish militia which cooperates with the Czech investigators. Volf takes a young girl as a hostage but Pavel seizes her and jumps into the sea with her, thus saving her life. Volf is subsequently shot dead by the intervening policemen.
recidivista Karel Volf
zloděj Pavel Kunz
poručík VB Rudolf Morávek
kapitán VB Vaněk
major VB Jaroslav Janda
nadporučík VB Aleš Doubrava
major VB Jiří Veverka
major Jerzy Machulski
číšník Okoun
podplukovník VB Vágner
Voice by Jiří Zahajský
vekslák František Klouzal zvaný Moucha
Králová, Klouzalova milenka
kapitán Jacek Orlański
Magda, Pavlova dívka
lodník Marek Nowak
poručík VB
pokladní Rýdlová
majitel chaty Holeček
Rudla Vácha
homosexuál, Váchův přítel
Jandova žena
karbaník Cibulka
poručík VB Hájek
polský recepční
holohlavý
černovláska, Morávkova přítelkyně
Petr, Jandův syn
Renata Martínková, Petrova dívka
Martínek, Renatin otec
nadstrážmistr Douša
major VB Havlíček
vrátný
venkovan Kuna
Božka, Kunova žena
náměstek Nohýnek
A. Homolová, Volfova sestra
číšník Kučera
kriminalista
velitel stráží
příslušník VB
milenec Homolové
blondýnka
lesník
opilec
karbaník
Viktor Walter, Andrzej Reiter
Jan Hodný, Bohumil Kadlec, Jan Klíma
Přemysl Pražský, Urszula Orczykowska
Martina Krýslová, Jacek Gwizdała, Zygmunt Wójcik, Bohdan Kysil
Bolesław Bednarski, Bożęna Gołebiowska, Miloš Matula
kpt. JUDr. Zdeněk Chodora, Sylwester Kończyk, Witold Zawadzki
Hana Brajerová (klapka), Zdeněk Vávra (fotograf), Jaromír Komárek (fotograf), Jacek Stala, Jacek Turewicz
Song Composer Karel Vacek
Song Composer Karel Vacek
Zátah
Zátah
The Raid
List gończy
film
featuretheatrical distribution
crime
Czechoslovakia, Poland
1984
1984
literary Screenplay approved 4 January 1984
technical Screenplay approved 29 June 1984
start of filming 19 July 1984
end of filming 17 December 1984
projection approval 3 January 1985
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1991
premiere 1 January 1986 /suitable for youths/
Filmové studio Barrandov, PRF Zespoły Filmowe, Wytwórnia filmów fabularnych Łódż (spolupráce)
2. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupina, Josef Císař (vedoucí 2. dramaturgicko-výrobní skupiny), Zespól Filmowy Kadr (PRF Zespoły Filmowe), Jerzy Kawalerowicz (vedoucí Zespól Filmowy Kadr)
feature film
84 min
2 412 meters
16mm, 35mm
1:1,37
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech, Polish
without subtitles
Czech
