The man who lies

The action takes place in an uncertain European country. The main character, dressed in a modern suit ( Jean-Louis Trentignan ), runs through the woods from a detachment of soldiers in German uniform pursuing him during the Second World War, with whom resistance fighters are shooting. The hero is killed, but he gets up and goes to a nearby town, introducing himself to the viewer as Boris Varissa, a comrade-in-arms of the local resistance leader, allegedly killed Jean Raben. In the tavern, he tells the story of how he saved the wounded Raben, but no one seems to believe him. Then he goes to the dilapidated family castle of Raben, where he meets three beauties - Raben's wife, his sister and servant. His new story about the salvation of Raben also does not convince women. Nevertheless, Boris manages to gain a foothold in the castle and even have novels with women, although there are complex sexual relationships between them. In the course of the action, it can be assumed that Boris was not a resistance fighter, but rather a traitor, or that he was just an adventurer or crazy. There are also doubts as to whether such a person actually existed, and if he existed, whether he was alive (at some point in the local cemetery they show the grave with a Boris Varissa sign), and if he is alive, then Boris. Maybe this is only the spirit of the deceased Boris, and maybe he is actually Jean (at some point he says so).

The time at which events occur is difficult to determine. Some events seem to occur during the war (or in the memory of the warriors, or is it just someone else's fantasies?). Some events seem to occur in the present time, but wartime features also wedge in them. Some of the events are likely to occur or were taking place in reality, some are a reflection of the properties of memory, which distort the events to a certain extent during reproduction, and some are the result of pure fiction, and at the same time it is conscious, and sometimes it is almost impossible to clearly separate these storytelling levels. And if we consider the events described in the film in a realistic manner, then the picture will appear contradictory and devoid of any unifying idea. However, if you look at it from the point of view of the ambiguity of manifestation of forms of reality, the variety of possible interpretations of the same events in different circumstances and at different levels of perception, the picture will appear as a complex and complex study of the methods of perception, interpretation and reproduction of reality. The author to some extent sacrifices the artistic components of the film for the sake of raising questions that are more likely to be philosophical.

• Jean-Louis Trentignan - Jean Robin / Boris Varissa
• Ivan Mistrick - Jean
• Zuzana Kotsurikova - Laura
• Sylvia Turbova - Sylvia
• Sylvie Breal - Maria
• Joseph Cerny - father
• Joseph Kroner - Franz
• Dominic Prado - Lisa
• Dusan Blashkovich - owner of the tavern
• Catherine Rob-Grieux - Pharmacist
• Julius Vasek - Vladimir
• Ivan Letko - German officer

• The person who lies on the IMDB website  
• The person who lies on the Allmovie website