Olga is a complex young woman desperate to break free from her unfeeling family and social conventions. With her Louise Brooks-like tomboyish looks she drags herself, chain-smoking, from one job to another until she appears to find her niche as a truck driver. Although she has female lovers she does not form a bond with any of them; instead she clashes, time and again, venting herself in wordless emotional outbursts and other behavioural extremes.
The story is freely inspired by the life and work of Jan Saudek, who is probably the most well-known Czech photographer internationally and has indisputably been involved in the development of international photography. He has exhibited and sold his work in the largest galleries and art houses, he has earned international recognition and awards, he enjoys great popularity and interest - he is a true phenomenon.
The film's protagonists get an opportunity to make a wish. Consequently, their lives take the path they themselves ordained. Several "coincidences" bring them everything they wanted and they have the chance to experience their wishes. We are not only responsible in our lives for everything that we do, but also for everything we say, we think and desire.
In this antological film, four fairy tales from the book by Jan Werich, each one by a different director. Břetislav Pojar directs the story of Thumbelina, Aurel Klimt "The Hunchbacks of Damascus", Vlasta Pospíšilová "Three Sisters and a Ring" and Jan Balej close the film with "The Sea, Uncle, Why is it Salty?".
The film's main theme is obsession. An obsession with love, with art, originality, copying, with success, money and... with oneself. Sooner or later, if we lose our rational upper hand over it and let ourselves be dragged down by it, every obsession leads to destruction. But it is only when being dragged down, in spite of all the cuts and bruises, that we find a unique DELIGHT, if only for a few short moments - and what else is life really about? It is like a drug. What at first seems to be weak and trivial is capable of expanding and growing into a serious problem that can appear to be absolutely incomprehensible and absurd to those who have never experienced anything like it.
ANNA ALEXANDROVNA BARKOVA (1901-1976) Journalist and poet, meeting suspicious characters. Involved in immoral love affairs. Work in the Kremlin, fired. 1934 - Arrested, 5 years of penal servitude in Karaganda. Lived in Ukraine during the WWII. 1946 - Arrested, 5 years of penal servitude in the Komi Republic. 1956 - Rehabilitated, disability pension. 1957 - Arrested, 10 years of penal servitude. The film 8 Heads of Madness is about the eternal struggle between the artist and external circumstances, the artist and her demons and longings. 8 Heads of Madness is a drama woven from fragments of an appalling era. An unhappy cross-section of the 20th century in an unhappy country, as seen through the sensitive, perceptive vision of a poet.
