The setting for this adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s short story “Ward Number Six” is a rural hospital, where various bizarre beings come together. This allegory about totalitarianism also remained uncompleted. The fa- mous Czech artist Ester Krumba- chová contributed to this black-and- white mosaic that oscillates between a naturalistic description of human wretchedness and a desire for free- dom. The film, which only received its final form after the fall of Commu- nism, had its cinematic premiere in November 1990.