A poetic melodramatic documentary inspired by the death of Jan Palach The footage from the funeral is accompanied by the words of Maxim Gorkys Old Woman Izergil On the Flaming Daneks Heart sung by Kühns mixed choir solos by Milada Sýkorová and Jiří Němeček The apotheosis of a leader who sacrificed himself to save his people warning of the cowardice of the crowd