Jan Zrzavý - silent landscape of the soul
Imagine a quiet village in the Highlands - Okrouhlice - where fog rolls lazily over the valley of the Sázava River and where time passes in a different rhythm. One of the most important Czech painters of the 20th century, Jan Zrzavý, used to come back here.
Not for glory, but for silence. Not for admiration, but for the colours of memory, landscape and soul.
The film can capture the contrast between the artist's bohemian life in Paris and his quiet, almost meditative retreat in Okrouhlice. It is where he found stability, where he watched the light falling on the old trees and chapels, where he drew and dreamed. Okrouhlice was not just a backdrop - it was the essence of his late work.
Let us capture Zrzavý not only as a painter - but as a man seeking a balance between the world outside and the world inside. His returns to Okrouhlice after the Second World War, his last years in this region, his views on life, old age, faith and poetry. Local people knew him as a closed but warm-hearted man. He was part of the community, yet remained a peculiar wanderer between worlds.
The film can be a combination of fiction reconstruction, period footage, animation inspired by his paintings and poetic commentary from his letters and notes. It can be a powerful, intimate portrait of a man who transformed the world through his painterly lens - and found his ultimate peace right here in Okrouhlice.
The main characters:
1. Jan Zrzavý (75-85 years old) - an aging, inwardly profound painter.
2. Anna (30 years old) - a young mail carrier from Okrouhlice.
3. František (60 years old) - the mayor of Okrouhlice, who has respect for Zrzavý.
4. Sister Marie (45 years old) - a nun from a nearby convent.
History and cultural context:
Jan Zrzavý is indeed connected with the village of Okrouhlice in the Havlickuv Brod region. His grave is still visited by tourists in the cemetery in Okrouhlice. At the same time, there is a nature trail of Jan Zrzavý.
