Das Mädchen mit der Muschel

the name of the movie means-girl with a shell.

empty seashell is a only prized possession of vendula,teenage girl hero of this excellent,touching movie. she is in care of her 2 younger teenager bros and one little brother. vendula's mother is an alcoholic and wastes almost all her income for booze.and since family is without father,it's up to vendula to manage the small amounts of money her mother from hell leaves her each month and provide for family. throughout whole movie we see the horrors of such a life.director svoboda did perfect job-so are the performances of all actors.music is also very good and moving. when i first saw this movie back in 80's in good old czechoslovakia,two things happened to me ;i prayed to god for having such a good parents (even if i don't believe in god)and,being teenager myself,i fell in love with actress who played vendula-dita kaplanova.hope she's still single... all in all,one of the best movies of czech cinema ever-at least for me..