TEMNE SLUNCE

(vt The Black Sun) Film (1980). Filmove studio Barrandov. Dir Otakar Vavra, starring Radoslav Brzobohaty, Magda Vasaryova, Rudolf Hrusinsky. Screenplay Vavra, Jiri Sotola, loosely based on Krakatit (1924; trans 1925) by Karel CAPEK. 133 mins. Colour.

   This is the better-known of Vavra's 2 films of Capek's novel; the earlier and more faithful adaptation, Krakatit (1948), is the better. TS, a very free version, is set in a stylized Cold-War world of the late 1970s. Where in the earlier film it is the aristocracy who wish to control "krakatit" - an energy source which is also an incredibly powerful explosive (symbolic of nuclear weapons) - in TS it is the imperialist military-industrial establishment that attemptsto misuse it. This high-budget production, with a prestigious cast, was intended as propaganda on behalf of the peaceful communists against the warmongering capitalists. It is less artistic than its predecessor.

SC/JO