Svatopluk Majer

May 1945. On the outskirts of Prague, ordinary people meet Soviet soldiers-liberators with tears of joy in their eyes. In the early days of the lull, someone sadly recalls a pre-war life; someone unexpectedly meets his love; someone is returning from enemy dungeons looking hopefully into the future; and someone, having moved from a tank into a Czech tram, warmly recalls his craft as a car driver... These days, all those who survived the Great War fire swear an oath to keep peace on Earth forever, honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for simple human happiness.

The title of this highly-regarded Czech drama translates as Wolf Trap. Set in the 1920s, the story revolves around an ambitious young provincial politician (Miroslav Dolozai) who enters into a marriage of convenience with a smotheringly possessive -- and much older -- woman (Jirina Sejbavola). Hoping to temporarily escape his overbearing wife's clutches, the husband strikes up a friendship with her young ward (Jana Brejchova). The relationship blossoms into a deep abiding love, but the jellyfish husband can't bring himself to declare his ardor to the girl. Even after the death of the wife, the husband hasn't the intestinal fortitude to admit his passion, and the results are bleak indeed for the unfortunate ward. Director Jiri Weiss does a masterful job staging his story of frustration and denial against a backdrop of post-WWI bourgeois banality.

The happenings in a shoe factory serve as a not very thinly veiled examination of the pros and cons of both socialism and democracy.

The movie describes proletarian life in the Czech Lands after World War I.

Workers from the aviation factory near Prague set up a racing club for young people that will take part in the international sailing competition for Czechoslovakia.