The Man Who Stood in the Way

František Kriegel (1908-1979) certainly deserved his own film because the previous political figure portrayed in other films dedicated to the August days was obviously insufficient. Unfortunately, once again, we only received an expanded view of the invasion; Kriegel's medical practice and his days in Soviet prison, where he did not meet with Brezhnev, were complemented by classical images. His wife, Riva (1908-2001), also received minimal space. However, to appreciate his stance and at least partially understand him, a true biography of a Galician Jew would have to be filmed, one who studied medicine at the German University in Prague during the Republic, fought in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, and so on – and even then, we would only be at the beginning. The 20th century sometimes beautifully reflected the fates of individuals like that, whose paths and motivations we should know better. Unfortunately, Petr Nikolaev's film is hardly sufficient; the performances by Tomáš Töpfer and Zuzana Mauréry are excellent, but the whole film is truncated, and the casting of Adrian Jastraban as Husák does not help, especially considering that the same actor played Dubček and similar careless mistakes. The Man Who Stood in the Way may be a good film for someone who is just starting with the topic, but a viewer who has seen many documentaries and is also familiar with the British film Invasion, or the aforementioned Dubček, will be more critical. (18/01/2024)