Garden Store: Deserter

The ZAHRADNICTVÍ (GARDEN STORE) trilogy consists of three separate films, all taking place in Czechoslovakia, set against the backdrop of some of the most dramatic periods of the past century (1939-1959), starting with WWII, covering the period of post-war optimism, and ending with the rise of the Communist dictatorship. It tells the story of three related families: the family of an air radio operator, the family of the owner of a hair salon, and the family of a garden store owner. The trilogy encompasses twenty years of the lives of its characters, who had to live out the best years of their lives in these complicated times.

DEZERTÉR (DESERTER) is a drama that takes place from 1947 to 1953, during the time when the Communists first seized power. The main character, one of the returned fathers, is the owner of the stylish Valentino Hair Salon in the center of Prague. He employs his entire family at his business, which is the purpose and fulfilment of his life. The film is the story of men who risked their lives in the battle for freedom. They survived the threat of death only to once again face the loss of the hopes in which they believed and to which they had become emotionally attached. Each of them is trying to find a "home" again. THE DESERTER is a tragicomic drama of severely tested love between husbands and wives, between siblings, and between parents and their children. (CinemArt)