At the beginning was the Slovak television series Lekár umierajúceho czasu (Doctor of Dying Time), dedicated to the Rudolphine-era scientist Jan Jesenius. He ended up on the scaffold along with other gentlemen after losing the anti-Habsburg uprising. When director Miloslav Luther conceived the idea of making an abridged version of the footage for cinema, he had to not only rebuild the storyline but also dub it into Czech. However, the result was only an illustrative puzzle, describing the various stages of the hero's turbulent life.
as Jan Jesenius
as Maria
as Rudolf II.
as Fels
as Johannes Kepler
as Jan Mydlář
as Pavel Michna z Vacínova
as Floro
as Jáchym Ondřej Šlik
as Kryštof Harant z Polžic a Bezdružic
as Bohuslav z Michalovic
as Václav Budovec z Budova
as Jindřich Matyáš Thurn
as Ferdinand II.
as Franz Melchiar
as Zdeněk Vojtěch Popel z Lobkovic
as Fridrich Falcký
as Vilém Slavata z Chlumu a Košumberka
as Jaroslav Bořita z Martinic
as Filip Fabricius
as Albrecht Jan Smiřický
as Beata
as Kašpar Kaplíř ze Sulevic
as Elfrieda
as Jacob Hoefnagel
as Pia
as Jakub
as Gregorius
as Ambrosius
as Ostrštok
as Přibík Jeníšek z Újezda
as Priest
as Tycho de Brahe
as Vavřinec Benedikt z Nudožer
as don Baltasar de Zúñiga
as David Lippach
as Filip Lang z Langenfelsu
as Dorotka
as Seppl
as Matouš Děpolt Popel z Lobkovic
as Jan Daniel Kapr z Kaprštejna
as Announcer
as Kristián I. Anhaltský
as Bohunka
as Sabinus
as Old Fisher
as Tobias
as Zoltán
as Narrator (voice)
as Fels (voice)
as Johannes Kepler (voice)
as Bohuslav z Michalovic (voice)
as Beata (voice)
as Kašpar Kaplíř ze Sulevic (voice)
as Priest (voice)
as Seppl (voice)
as Matouš Děpolt Popel z Lobkovic (voice)
as Jan Daniel Kapr z Kaprštejna (voice)
as Announcer (voice)
as Old Fisher (voice)
