May

Filmmaker B. A. Brabec has taken on the formidable task of bringing one of the enduring classics of Czech literature to the screen with this romantic drama. Maj (aka May) is an adaptation of Karel Hynek Mácha's epic narrative poem in which beautiful Jarmila (Sandra Lehnertova) has fallen in love with Vilem (Matej Stropnicky), a handsome thief. However, Vilem has a rival for Jarmila's affections in his own father, and as the young woman waits for her lover one night in May, she receives the terrible news that Vilem now awaits execution for the murder of his father after killing the older man in a fit of rage. However, Vilem's death at the hands of the man with the axe does not bring their story to an end. May received its world premiere at the 2009 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi