Cesta pustým lesem

Film on demand

Directed by Ivan Vojnar, Czech Republic 1997, 87 min.

A poetic narrative about the futility of human wandering through time and space, set in the harsh environment of Šumava in 1913-1914.
A highly lyrical, balladic black and white film gives a fragmentary insight into the lives of characters in a small village hidden in the deep forests. The heroes seem to move in timelessness, their inner loneliness, unfulfilled desires, the feeling that they are doomed to constant wandering, give no hope of finding a way out. The visually striking leitmotif of a forest labyrinth, in which paths disappear among tall trees or under a blanket of snow, thus takes on symbolic value. The news of the outbreak of the First World War at the end of the work only adds to the grimness of the message that documentary filmmaker Ivan Vojnár debuted with in the field of feature film.

Introduction by film historian Jan Lukeš.

"When Vojta Havel called me in mid-June last year to ask me if I would present The Way Through the Desolate Forest, for which he and Irena composed and recorded the music, I had to refuse, thank God. Even though I do everything at the last minute, the programme was already drawn up by then, the posters and other materials printed. So we agreed that I would show the newly restored copy of the film a year later, in 2025. Even in my worst dreams I would not have thought that Vojta would never see it in the cinema in Boskovice again. By screening this film, we would like to commemorate not only a great musician whose work was quite fundamental, but above all an incredibly kind and good man, Vojta Havel... " Petr Michálek

In original version.