Czech films based on well-known criminal cases: from reality, newspaper news to feature film and film reviews. Murder in Polná - Case of Leopold Hilsner

The thesis, called Czech films based on well-known criminal cases: from reality, newspaper news to feature film and film reviews. Murder in Polná - Case of Leopold Hilsner, deals with a criminal case which took place at the break of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. A young girl, Anežka Hrůzová, was murdered in the Březina woods outside the town of Polná. At a time when anti-Semitic sentiments dominated the society, a Polná resident and a Jew, Leopold Hilsner, was accused as the perpetrator of the crime. He was later convicted of this crime, and another one of a similar nature, even though there was no relevant evidence or testimonies. The period news outlets played a significant role in spreading the anti-Semitic tendencies. This thesis describes the course of this real-life case and focuses on the methods the media used to inform about it. Director Viktor Polesný made a film on the issue, Zločin v Polné (Murder in Polná), which is analysed in the thesis, along with the reviews written about this film, including the reception by viewers. The thesis compares the actual case with its film adaptation, and the responses of the media, which accompanied both the event itself and the film. Included in this work are also the historical context and the sources of the anti-Semitism of the..