Stupně poražených

Directed by Julius Matula

With Bohumil Starnovský, Marek Vašut, Andrea Švehelková, Ondřej Vetchý and Ľubica Mruškovičová

The top sport was also closely monitored in the communist era, and officials were naturally bothered that the pentathlon team failed to win the World Championships. But the measures that should have ensured redress were caught up in a web of behind-the-scenes machinations that backfired on the athletes themselves, their endurance and their family backgrounds. While the film has critical ambitions and wants to reveal much of what should have remained hidden from the public eye, it is a rather clumsy and schematic view, not very convincing in terms of realisation.