In the Shadow

David Ondříček : 2012
Ve stínu

Set in Prague in 1953, police captain Hakl is investigating a seemingly mundane robbery at a goldsmith's shop. In a fraught political climate, this incident is seized on by the Communist authorities, who require a smokescreen for their own, far grander, deception. On the orders of State Security, Hakl's investigation is taken over by Major Zenke, an East German police specialist, under whose leadership it is shown that the gold was stolen by the Jewish community to finance Zionist terrorism. But Hakl's experienced instincts as a criminologist are discovering an altogether different story, and he continues in the investigation on his own. Can one just man withstand a struggle with the forces of an increasingly oppressive state? The adversary is powerful, and Hakl soon finds out he can believe nothing and no one. Hanging over everyone is a shadow of their past, of their weaknesses, that can make a culprit of a victim and a hero of a culprit. Somber and atmospheric, this suspenseful crime drama is a moving and compelling study of the Stalinist era.