VÁCLAV

Václav is slightly backward and keeps getting into trouble. A skilled marksman, he shoots the tyres of a passing car, then shatters the rear mirror of a tractor on the field. On the rare occasions he appears for work at the cooperative, he does more harm than good. He’s never learned to read and does not know how to address a parcel. In his daydreams he keeps seeing his dead father, who was imprisoned for attempting to flee to the West after somebody betrayed his plans. If it was up to his brother, Václav would have been sent to an institution long ago, but their mother fights to keep him at home on the farm. Even for her life with Václav is not easy. The place is going to rack and ruin, Václav isn’t much help, and the complaints keep coming in. Finally she reaches the end of her tether and goes away for a few days, Václav stays at home by himself. He’s long been in love with Lida and has even managed to establish a kind of friendship with her. While his mother is away, Lida comes to the farm. This leads to a fight with Václav’s brother, who used to have an affair with Lida himself. When Václav shoots at his brother, there is nothing more his mother can do for him. Only four people in the village sign her petition pleading Václav’s case, everybody else lost patience with him long ago. Václav has to go to prison.