Signum laudis

Eingeklemmte, dringliche und beeindruckende Moral. Hollý hat das verrottete Panoptikum der Befehlshaber der österreichisch-ungarischen Armee dargelegt, einige sehr starke Szenen verewigte (insbesondere König's juristische Predigt zu Hoferik ist brillant) und damit eine weniger bombastische Analogie zu Kubricks Wege zum Ruhm geschaffen - eine universelle Kritik des Militarismus, der Feigheit sowie der Gemeinheit der Herrschaften, die nicht zögern, aus den Fußsoldaten zu ihrem eigenen Gunsten Kanonenfutter zu machen. Mich persönlich hat lediglich die gekünstelte Musikspur Liškas verärgert, die in einen ansonsten strikt historischen Film schlichtweg nicht passt. (18.01.2010)

One of the fundamental works of Czechoslovak cinema, which marked the end of the lean normalization period of the 1970s and, along with Jakubisko's The Millennial Bee, became a harbinger of better times. Vlado Müller shines here in his strongest and most demanding role. Nevertheless, the film has several excellent character actors, decent exteriors, and above all, a quality screenplay. It is difficult to say why the film was not successful; perhaps it was due to its depressive charge. Otherwise, it is one of the best Barrandov Studios films of the 1980s. It is a film without a stupid ideology, but sympathizing with ordinary soldiers in the trenches, who usually suffer at the hands of their superiors in officer uniforms. The final scene, when the officers, after sacrificing the whole unit, nobly go into captivity accompanied by military music, is a chillingly cynical end to the entire film. Corporal Hoferik is an example of a fanaticized soldier who, in his zeal, is capable of leading his own war to the end. Overall impression: 90%. (29.11.2007)