The Bohemian

The year is 1764. Josef has been scraping by in Venice for over a year, hoping to become an opera composer in a city already full of talented and established ones. Looking for work as a violinist, he comes into the circle of a wealthy young woman and starts playing at salons. The door that matters opens when he becomes the lover of a libertine marquise, who teaches him manners and strips the provincial off him. Transformed, he lands a commission to write an opera for the San Carlo, the largest theatre in Europe. Petr Václav's film is about the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček, known in Italy as Il Boemo, the Bohemian. He was a friend and mentor to Mozart. The film was submitted as the Czech entry for the 2022 Academy Awards.