This existential drama about the dis-
        illusionment of a Communist military
        officer was based on a novel by Jifií
        Kfienek that had in the sixties paradox-
        ically received an award in a military
        literary contest held. Lieutenant Arno‰t
        is at his wits end in both his personal
        and professional lives. He searches for
        a way out though memories and day-
        dreaming and in the end, suicide.
        After being banned for this her di-
        rectorial debut, the director Draho-
        míra Vihanová (b. 1930) was only
        able to make her second feature-
        length film in 1994. She did however
        enrich Czech cinematography with a
        series of remarkable documentary
        films including the documentary Me-
        tamorphosis of My Girlfriend Eva
        about the controversial jazz singer
        Eva Olmerová. In her most recent film
        The Pilgrimage of Students Peter and
        Jacob (2000), she examines coexist-
        ence between the majority community
        and the Romany minority.