The distinctive artist, typographer, and writer Josef Váchal is known to the public primarily for his Blood Novel. The surrealistic exuberance of this defense of 19th-century pulp fiction caught the attention of Jaroslav Brabec and his colleagues, who found a corresponding image of 20th-century "trash." The authors' interest focuses primarily on the silent film era, with a journey through the history of cinema continuing through the advent of sound film to the present day (auteur cinema of the 1960s, modern horror), formally employing techniques such as tinted film. The versatile parody intertwines a colorful plot with the story of the author (Váchal/Paseky), who comments on and creates his book, and is further split in the plot into the characters of Fragonard and the Master. As with Váchal, reality increasingly enters the fiction, so that the only "happy ending" turns out to be the artist's finished work.
as Paseka / Master / Fragonard
as Elzevíra
as Prince Pedro di Rudibanera
as Kurt
as Ignác
as Kuba's Wife
as Father Bruna
as Kuba
as Hanička
as Kalina
as Třasoň
as Honoluluan
as Honoluluan
as Klárka
as Anna Kocourková
as Hanička's Grandfather
as Rolf
as Policeman
as Fugitive Madman
as Vailaurd
as Dr. Římsa
as Captain Rodriguez
as Pirate Leader
as Albatrus Cook
as Outcast
as Outcast
as Outcast
as Háta
as Hermit
as Salvation Army Agent
as Tall Jesuit
as Tavern Keeper
as Mother Superior
as Madam
as Man
as Outcast Doctor
as Bidder
as Drunk
as Man
as Prostitute
as Prostitute
as Prostitute
as Prostitute
as Outcast
as Outcast
as Outcast
as Pirate
as Pirate
as Outcast
as Publisher
as Publisher
as Publisher
as Publisher
as Publisher
as Publisher
as Publisher
as Prostitute
as Prostitute
as Prostitute
as Pirate / Bandit
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Fencer
as Albatrus Deck Hand (uncredited)
as Rudibanerová (uncredited)
as Tall Boy (uncredited)
as Ghost (uncredited)
as Ghost (uncredited)
as Outcast (uncredited)
as Puppeteer (uncredited)
