MIKI

In a Slovakia bereft of professional prospects, Miki enters the world of organised crime: starting with fraud, he quickly moves on to robbery, andultimately more serious crimes. He gathers friends and confidants around him and builds a criminal network. Together, they go from job to job, establishment to establishment, and from woman to woman. Though money initially resolves conflicts, intimidation soon follows, then violence before, ultimately, the 'obstacles' are removed with murder. It's a rapid rise in the criminal underworld that catapults him into the focus of his enemies and puts numerous people in danger.

The film captures the spirit of the 1990s—moustaches, gold chains, brightly coloured tracksuits and all—while simultaneously painting a shocking picture of the young Slovak Republic, one marked by corruption, violence, and a criminal underworld that terrified society. On the one hand, Černák is portrayed as a thoughtful family man who keeps his mother and wife in the dark and always has his brother by his side to protect the family. On the other hand, the film shows him to be a macho muscleman and ruthless murderer who will stop at nothing for personal gain—that and an eccentric individual who is intoxicated by stories of his deeds and keeps tigers in his garden. Based on the autobiography of Černák, who was visited several times in prison by screenwriter Miro Šifra and lead actor Milan Ondrík during preparations for the firm, director Jakub Kroner created a film that proved a crowd-puller in Slovakia, attracting hundreds of thousands of people to the cinemas.

Text: Merlin Webers

Sun 09.11. I 16:30 I KAMMERBÜHNE I original version with English subtitles + simultaneous German translation