Perhaps the most famous Czech detective, Captain Exner, will have to solve one of the mysterious cases again. Just as he is going on holiday to the small town of Opolná, murder happens at the place of his holiday. A very rich and talented local shoemaker is killed. It will be up to Captain Exner to resolve this case.
Jiří Kodet played Captain Exner only once
Václav Erben, according to whose book the film was made, really wanted Jiří Kodet to appear in other films with a similar story. Nevertheless, Jiří Kodet played the famous Captain Exner only for one of the political reasons. The comrades did not want his career, and in the lists of actors the actor Kodet’s name clearly stated “only small and negative roles”. This made it absolutely clear which roles he would continue to fill.
Public security at the time banned and censored another scene. According to them, the moment when the police were trying to mow and rake the meadow was shameful at the time, so they decided that the scene in the film must be censored.
How to film a funeral without a grave?
When the scene at the funeral was filmed, the film crew discovered that not a single grave was currently dug in the local cemetery. And so the game started to run out of time so that the whole shooting would not be unnecessarily prolonged. Director Jan Schmidt asked his colleagues from the film crew, to dig the grave overnight. In order for their work to go well (and perhaps for courage), he packed a bottle of rum for their trip.
Do you know the town of Opolná?
Around 1982, when the film was made, it was not customary to change the names of real cities. However, the film town of Opolná, where a shoemaker was murdered and where Captain Exner was also supposed to rest on holiday, is actually filmed in the famous town of Opočno.
Just before the shooting, a tragic event happened
It was very difficult for one of the main female roles, Jana Boušková, to make this film. Shortly before the start of the first clap, the actress’s husband died tragically. That was the actor Petr Svojka. But she admits that even in such a difficult time, the entire film crew treated her very decently and helped her with everything.
Sources: ceskatelevize.cz, CSFD.cz
Author: Michaela Richterová
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