Film Archive

Saving One Who Was Dead

Crystal Globe Competition 2021 / Zpráva o záchraně mrtvého / Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, France 2021

After a serious stroke, the Father goes into a coma. The Mother (Zuzana Mauréry) and the Son (Vojtěch Dyk) are suddenly confronted with a motionless body; the doctors do not give them much hope. Four years on from Karlovy Vary’s graceful ride Little Crusader, Václav Kadrnka invites us on a spiritual journey to places man is seldom permitted to enter since, here, life huddles up tightly to death and only the resurrected can return.

Synopsis

After a serious stroke, the Father goes into a coma. The Mother (Zuzana Mauréry) and the Son (Vojtěch Dyk) are suddenly confronted with a motionless body; the doctors do not give them much hope. The person they love is somewhere far away and their words can’t reach him. If living has any boundary, they are determined not to let the Father cross it. The quiet corridors of the hospital are gradually transformed into a labyrinth of the spirit, where voices are whispers; expression is deep within. Or everyone is silent. Because it’s so difficult to talk about certain things… Four years on from Karlovy Vary’s graceful ride Little Crusader, Václav Kadrnka invites us on a spiritual journey to places man is seldom permitted to enter since, here, life huddles up tightly to death and only the resurrected can return.

Martin Horyna

About the film

90 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Václav Kadrnka / Screenplay Václav Kadrnka, Marek Šindelka, Jiří Soukup / Dir. of Photography Raphaël O'Byrne / Music Irena a Vojtěch Havlovi / Editor Jan Daňhel / Art Director Jana Bejblová / Producer Simona Kadrnková, Václav Kadrnka / Production Sirius Films / Coproduction Silverart, Bocalupo Films / Cast Zuzana Mauréry, Vojtěch Dyk, Petr Salavec / Contact Sirius Films / Distributor CinemArt, a.s.

About the director

Václav Kadrnka (1973, Zlín, Czechoslovakia). Selected filmography: Face (2000, short), Passengers (2002, short), Elegy of Wood (2009, short doc.), Eighty Letters (2010), Little Crusader (2017), Saving One Who Was Dead (2021).