Mistr Kampanus

A TV adaptation of the famous novel in which writer Zikmund Winter depicts the life story of Prague university professor and humanist poet Jan Campanus Vodňanský and his efforts to save the ancient university after the Battle of White Mountain. Campanus gradually loses all his battles. The path of concessions leads to unintentional but tragic guilt when, at Campanus's unwitting instigation, the Jesuits seize the child of the executed Jesenius. The difficult post-White Mountain period in the Czech lands presented Campanus with a dilemma: whether to convert or to keep a clear conscience, a conflict of power and honor so common in our history...

Directed by Zdenek Sirový, Mistr Kampanus leans on a strong ensemble — Václav Postránecký, Miroslav Donutil, František Němec — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1993.