At zije republika

Grand, epic and visually-impressive film with fantastic cinemascope photography which deserves to be much better known; the film was shown in Rotterdam in 1993 in the special Grandeur Locale-programme. is a sensitive, humorous and lively film with classic charm. The story is set in a village in the beautiful hills of Moravia (in central Czechoslovakia) during the last days of World War II. The Germans have already left, the Russians have not yet arrived. The young Olda is pestered by the older children because he is so small. He has no friends, except a strange old man who is a great animal lover and also hated by the other villagers. Olda is ordered by his callous father to hide their horse, their only possession, in the woods. When Olda loses the horse to soldiers of the fleeing German army, he makes a very reckless decision.