Osudná chvíle

I first came across the poster for this film 20 years ago in the then-permanent exhibition in the Trade Fair Palace dedicated to First Republic cinema. And indeed it was enough to live through the many vicissitudes of two decades of life and watch this rarity slowly become an affordable commodity. We can all understand the shyness of the dramaturgists to classify Osudná chvíle as a memorial film, but the fact that the film has not been available for many years even in universities (its knowledge would be useful for many disciplines, not only film) is alarming. In this way, Osudná chvíle was preceded by many years by Her Sin, also dealing with the subject of syphilis. Anyway, I am happy that the ice has been broken and everyone can process their own viewing experience of this extraordinary cultural film, whose cinematic qualities are considerable. The cinematography and materials about Prague are great, the acting is average but not uninteresting, the message is obvious and the infamous didactic passage is very necessary and bluntly useful even today. (2021.11.07)