Who Will Watch the Watchman? Dalibor, or the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin
In the fourth and final instalment of Karel Vachekās not-so-little Little Capitalist Tetralogy, preparations for an opera performance in the Czech capitalās art-nouveau National Theatre become the occasion for a reflection on rebels, dissidents, and others subversives who stand in battle, heroically and sometimes tragically, against majority opinion, established rules, or powerful institutions. "As the camera wanders over, around and through Pragueās lavish National Theatre, director J.A. PitĆnskĆ½ coaches singers through a rehearsal of BedÅich Smetanaās tragic opera Dalibor. Intercut with the tale of the 15th-century knight who, imprisoned, refused to name names, Vachek interviews, on the plush red seats of the empty theatre, a whole series of latter-day rebels.
2003-06-05
