The Cinematheque

Juraj Herz’s first feature is an atmospheric mystery set in a state-run hospital beset by incompetence, corruption, and sexual intrigue. The plot pivots on the murder, in a consulting room, of a womanizing physician with more than a few enemies. Herz favourite Iva Janžurová (Oil Lamps, Morgiana), in her first role for the director, plays a terminally ill patient. Herz’s screenplay was co-written with Hana Bělohradská, adapting her novel The Last Supper. Cinematographer Beda Batka also shot František Vláčil’s visionary Marketa Lazarová, released the same year. ​“One of the first films touching on the horror tradition to be produced during Czechoslovakia’s Communist period … The implicitly critical depiction of a public service sector overloaded with underqualified Party stooges would land Herz in trouble with censors for what was not to be the last time” (Nick Pinkerton, Metrograph).