Shadows of a Hot Summer

Paying tribute to sober heroism, this drama is formally the most concise of Vláčil’s three films set in the troubled period just after the Second World War. The story unfolds in a remote part of the Beskydy mountains, where a shepherd and his young family are held hostage by five armed Ukrainian nationalist paramilitaries, who force their way into their home, seeking temporary shelter. In the spirit of the classical drama, the director brings into play the unities of action, time and place, creating a masterful sense of increasing tension through his characteristic methods: dynamic lensing, unusual and expressive camerawork, knife-edge scenes half shrouded in darkness, muted delivery from the cast, the use of powerful musical motifs and also prolonged periods of silence. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)