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Temné Slunce

Entry updated 8 April 2019. Tagged: Film.

Film (1980; vt Dark Sun; The Black Sun). Filmové studio Barrandov. Directed by Otakar Vávra. Written by Vávra, Jiří Šotola, loosely based on Krakatit (1924; trans 1925) by Karel Čapek. Cast includes Radoslav Brzobohatý, Rudolf Hrušínský and Magda Vašáryová. 133 minutes. Colour.

This is the better-known of Vávra's two films of Čapek's novel; the earlier and more faithful adaptation, Krakatit (1948), is the better. Temné Slunce, a very free version, is set in a stylized Cold-War world of the late 1970s. Where in the earlier film it is the aristocracy who wish to control "krakatit" – an energy source which is also an incredibly powerful explosive (symbolic of nuclear Weapons) – in Temne Sluncé it is the imperialist military-industrial establishment that attempts to misuse it. This high-budget production, with a prestigious cast, was intended as propaganda on behalf of the peaceful communists against the warmongering capitalists. It is less artistic than its predecessor. [SC/JO]

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