Extended Time

The aging professor of art history, Karel Svozil, suffers from gastric pain. His lover Alena, much younger than him, would like them to have a baby. A thorough examination of Karel's ailment proves the worries of Karel's friend, internist Fořt, that he may be suffering from cancer. Karel must undergo surgery. Shortly before, he warns his student Čech of the university department head, Kalous. After the surgery, Svozil peeps into the nurses' room and learns about the cancer from his medical record. He hides the unfortunate news from Alena. But his girlfriend already knows everything from Fořt and the two agree on concealing the disease from Karel. The patient returns home from hospital. He is depressed and moreover oversensitive to any symbols of death. He works feverishly, as if striving to make the best use of the time left; he lectures and writes a book. Alena finds the oncologist Antoš in order to learn more about Karel's disease, and has sex with him out of a sense of hopelessness. She, however, confesses to Karel the next day and Karel forgives her. When he makes love to her, his spine begins to hurt. Antoš is afraid of metastases and Karel can sense that from him. Karel finishes his book and marries Alena. He also stands up for the student Čech in the dispute with Kalous. One day, a large ceramic vessel falls on Karel and hits him in the spine. The back pain immediately fades away. This means that the diagnosis cannot be carcinogenic metastases, which is also proved by the ensuing complex examination. Karel thus begins enjoying life again and paying attention to such minor problems as the dispute with Kalous, a damaged mudguard and so on.