On January 7, 2016, a long-expected documentary movie Doomed Beauty (Zkáza krásou) by Helena Třeštíková is entering the Czech cinemas. The portrait of both famous and damned Czech actress Lída Baarová originates in interviews that were made with her by one of the most remarkable Czech directors. The interviews took place in 1995 in Salzburg (Austria); originally they were made for the movie Sweet Bitterness of Lída Baarová.
“Lída Baarová did not allow many journalists to enter her privacy in her last Austrian home. The interview made by Helena Třeštíková is one of the rare exceptions. At the same time, it is the interview that embodies the core of the remarkable documentary: with a help of archives we walk through the history of 20th century in Europe accompanied by one of the most famous Czech actresses. Lída Baarová has recently been in the limelight; the movie Doomed Beauty can serve as an ideal piece for the audience that enjoys recognizing personal stories from the people involved and listening to their own words telling the story. Exciting experience,” says Ivo Andrle from Aerofilms, the distribution company of Třeštíková's documentary in the Czech and Slovak Republic.
The self-destructive lovestory with the qualities of Greek tragedy is fatally connected with the European history, and in an extraordinarily sincere way it portrays a woman who on the top of her career had the whole world at her feet. As the director said in the interview for aerofilms.cz website: “The whole thing is to try something different from what I've been doing so far. Working with archives is very interesting and brings endless possibilities. Doomed Beauty is a story of the 20th century. Beauty, evanescence and folly. A great illusion. It speaks a little about the fact that people cannot get rid of of what they did; they have a certain responsibility.” Helena Třeštíková cooperated with her favourite editor Jakub Hejna who also became a co-director of the movie. The movie was introduced to the public and media on September 29, 2014 by the producer Hana Třeštíková, within the Evening of Czech Documentary organized by Institute of Documentary Film and Czech Film Center.