The Defenestration of Prague, which took place on May 23, 1618, was the decisive historical moment that unleashed the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) between several Catholic and Protestant states and changed the course of European history forever. (Additionally released as a heavely edited historical documentary entitled The Defenestration of Prague, 85 min.)
This historical film by Hynek Bočan touches upon the indecisiveness of the Czech nation, ready to bend the backbone in face of foreign rule. Situating the story at the close of the Thirty Year War enabled the depiction of the misery of the people that affects even an impoverished aristocratic milieu. Rudolf Hrušínský appears here in the role of an indecisive knight, persuaded for a long time and in vain to join the anti-Habsburg movement. The story does not only captivate through the depiction of manifold human characters, intrigues and sycophancy, but also through the circumstances ruling over the devastated farmstead, sunk in mud and crudeness. One of the best films with an updating tendency has come into being here, rightly being named along the such greats as Kladivo na čarodějnice (Witches' Hammer).
October 2018 was the four-hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War. The documentary traces the story of how it was finally brought to an end with the peace of Munster and Osnabruck – the first peace in European history to be concluded at the negotiating table and not fought on the battlefield.
In the turmoil of the Thirty-Years' War, a mysterious soldier appears in a secluded Protestant village claiming to be heir to a long-abandoned manor. His quest for recognition and acceptance are complicated by his secret: under a false identity, false name, and pretense of a false gender, he has made his way to the village. But to achieve her goals, Rose, as the soldier is actually called, will stop at nothing.
Saxony, devastated by the Thirty Years' War, is led by the comedy troupe of the principal Fortunato. The student Vavrinec has fled Bohemia and greatly values the text of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, which he has acquired on his wanderings around the world.
