A temporary circus visit unsettles a stagnant summer routine through desire, jealousy, violence, and eventual return to normality.
Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
Resort Meets the Circus
The quiet summer routine at the abandoned swimming resort is disrupted by Arnoštek's arrival. His invitation brings the men into contact with Anna and the traveling circus.
Key Events
Abandoned Swimming Resort — Three middle-aged men spend summer days at an abandoned swimming resort. Characters: Major Hugo, Canon RochLocation: Abandoned swimming resort
Bickering at the Resort — The men engage in a bickering conversation at the resort. Characters: Major Hugo, Canon RochLocation: Abandoned swimming resort
Circus Arrival — Arnoštek arrives and invites the men to his circus act. Characters: Arnoštek, Major Hugo, Canon RochLocation: Abandoned swimming resort
Town Square Performance — The men attend Arnoštek's circus performance and meet Anna. Characters: Arnoštek, Major Hugo, Canon Roch, AnnaLocation: Town square
Desire at the River
Anna is rescued from the river and becomes the center of an intimate encounter. The discovery of the affair breaks the existing domestic arrangement.
Key Events
Anna Rescued from River — Anna is rescued from the river after the performance. Characters: AnnaLocation: River
Night with Anna — Anna and the bathhouse owner sleep together after her rescue. Characters: AnnaLocation: Bathhouse owner's residence
Sunrise Discovery — The bathhouse owner's wife discovers the infidelity at sunrise. Characters: AnnaLocation: Bathhouse owner's residence
Wife Leaves — The wife leaves and moves in with Arnoštek. Characters: ArnoštekLocation: Town
Violence in the Caravan
Canon Roch's dinner with Anna provokes a village assault. Hugo and the bathhouse owner later repair Roch's torn ear, temporarily containing the consequences.
Key Events
Wife Leaves — The wife leaves and moves in with Arnoštek. Characters: ArnoštekLocation: Town
Dinner in the Caravan — Canon Roch dines privately with Anna in her caravan. Characters: Canon Roch, AnnaLocation: Anna's caravan
Mob Assaults Roch — Village men pull Roch from the caravan and assault him. Characters: Canon Roch, AnnaLocation: Anna's caravan
Torn Ear — Roch suffers a torn ear after the village assault. Characters: Major Hugo, Canon RochLocation: Resort
Ear Stitching — Hugo and the bathhouse owner stitch Roch's torn ear. Characters: Major Hugo, Canon RochLocation: Resort
The Dangerous Performance
The men return to the circus, where a warning precedes Arnoštek's fall from the wire. Anna continues the show with an elegant dance.
Key Events
Return to Circus — Hugo and the bathhouse owner return to see Anna perform. Characters: Major Hugo, Arnoštek, AnnaLocation: Town square
Warning at the Wire — An old man warns Arnoštek during the tightrope act. Characters: Arnoštek, Major Hugo, AnnaLocation: Town square
Fall from the Wire — Arnoštek falls from the wire and injures his back. Characters: Arnoštek, Major Hugo, AnnaLocation: Town square
Anna's Elegant Dance — Anna performs an elegant dance after Arnoštek's fall. Characters: Anna, Arnoštek, Major HugoLocation: Town square
Infatuation and Retaliation
Hugo's dinner with Anna becomes coercive, while Arnoštek rejects the wife's advances and sends her back. Arnoštek then attacks Hugo before the caravan leaves town.
Key Events
Dinner with Hugo — Hugo dines with Anna and becomes deeply infatuated. Characters: Major Hugo, AnnaLocation: Arnoštek's caravan
Coercive Encounter — Hugo forces himself on Anna and falls asleep in her lap. Characters: Major Hugo, AnnaLocation: Arnoštek's caravan
Arnoštek Sends Her Back — Bored with the wife's advances, Arnoštek sends her back. Characters: ArnoštekLocation: Town
Relationship Restored — The estranged couple amend their relationship.
Location: Bathhouse owner's residence
Search for Anna — Arnoštek searches for Anna the following morning. Characters: Arnoštek, Major Hugo, AnnaLocation: Town
Baton Attack — Arnoštek strikes Hugo with a baton. Characters: Arnoštek, Major HugoLocation: Town
Caravan Leaves Town — Arnoštek's caravan leaves town after the conflict. Characters: Arnoštek, AnnaLocation: Road outside town
Summer Days Resume — The three men return to the resort and resume their summer routine. Characters: Major Hugo, Canon RochLocation: Abandoned swimming resort
Story Breakdown
Resort Routine — The film begins with a stagnant summer world centered on the abandoned swimming resort.
Bickering Friends — Major Hugo and Canon Roch participate in the men's argumentative resort conversation.
Quiet Summer Days — The resort provides the calm social setting that frames the later disruptions.
Circus Arrival — Arnoštek's arrival introduces a mobile performance world and brings Anna into the men's lives.
Invitation — Arnoštek invites the men to attend his circus act.
Town Square Show — The men watch the performance and meet Anna.
River Desire — Anna's rescue from the river leads to an affair and a major domestic rupture.
River Rescue — Anna is rescued from the river after the first performance.
Sunrise Discovery — The affair is discovered at sunrise, causing the wife to leave.
Caravan Violence — Private social contact around Anna provokes public hostility and physical punishment.
Roch's Dinner — Canon Roch shares dinner with Anna in her caravan.
Village Assault — A mob drags Roch from the caravan and assaults him.
Circus Peril — The return to the circus combines spectacle with bodily danger and romantic tension.
Wire Warning — An old man warns Arnoštek during the tightrope performance.
Back Injury — Arnoštek falls from the wire and injures his back.
Hugo's Pursuit — Hugo's attraction to Anna intensifies into a coercive encounter inside the caravan.
Private Dinner — Hugo dines with Anna and becomes smitten with her.
Forced Encounter — Hugo forces himself on Anna and falls asleep in her lap.
Final Retaliation — The competing desires culminate in Arnoštek's attack on Hugo and the circus departure.
Baton Strike — Arnoštek searches for Anna and strikes Hugo with a baton.
Caravan Departure — Arnoštek's caravan leaves town as the resort routine returns.
Middle-aged Antonin and his friends, the major, now retired, and the canon, are in the river, swimming and philosophizing. Then it starts to rain. It just seems to be that sort of summer. Antonin runs the swimming bath with his portly wife Katherine... A man appears with his horse-drawn caravan. He lays a striped pole across the river and walks over. With a handstand and a magic trick, Ernie the Conjuror invites everyone to that evening's performance... Ernie is a tightrope walker of only modest skill, but with a slim and beautiful assistant, Anna. Antonin speaks to her. The two spend the night in the change room by the river, Antonin massaging her feet all night long. Katherine decides to move into the caravan with Ernie. But now the major and even the canon sense Anna's attractiveness...
