Film Toman is a drama by director and producer Ondrej Trojan. It’s about the rise and fall of a time period that still affects our lives. The unbelievable but true story of the controversial person Zdenek Toman, the head of Czech foreign intelligence, which has significantly influenced development in post-war Czechoslovakia, an unscrupulous trader with enormous power and a crucial task. Get the money that the Communists need to win the election. Toman knew how to get it. For himself, for his family and for the Communist party. Frauds, blackmailing, taking payments from war criminals and their victims. He wasn’t afraid of anything. The price he and his beloved ones paid for his career was high. The film shows the time of the so-called Third Republic, the dark years of 1945-1948, and the story of a man never spoken of. Director Ondrej Trojan brings to the screen a thriller drama and the most authentic reconstruction of real events based on archive and eyewitness testimonies.
For me, Toman is one of the most interesting figures of Czech history. I have never heard of Zdenek Toman before, and now I can’t get him out of my head. Thinking about him, what he really was like, what was going on in his head. Was he a crook, or did he just take the money when he had the chance? As the film focuses on a specific person, I prefer to have the opportunity to get to know the person first and then let the narrative take me more closely to the events around. And I must say that the director Ondrej Trojan did a good job and the film is exactly as I expected. The worst parts of the film were the disturbing introductions of every person who appeared in the story. There were so many characters that I often got lost. For a person who knows about this time period and characters, this is really a great movie full of excellent actors’ performances. Unfortunately, for someone who is not affected by this time of Czech history, it will be an extremely challenging film to watch and memorize all the characters. Because of that, my overall impression of the movie was ruined. Nevertheless, Trojan shoots an incredibly powerful, believable and authentic film. And with absolutely great cast.
