The Junk Shop

Bohoušek runs a junk shop filled with odd customers and reveals his wish to win a car in a new contest. He moves through the day dealing with peculiar requests and whispers about something better he desires. The opening scene establishes his ordinary routine and latent longing.

Bohoušek spots Mařenka airing a carpet on the floor above and imagines her as famous paintings, including the Mona Lisa. His fantasy reveals his habit of turning everyday sights into grand, impossible art. The moment mixes humor with a sense of unfulfilled desire.

Cleo bursts into the shop outraged that she is offered only one crown for her love letters. She insists she was a famous beauty and deserves more money for her mementos. Her demand shows the shop's chaotic, money-focused environment.

Hedvicka weighs herself and is recorded at 100 pounds, while Bohoušek is offended when she says he weighs 364 pounds. He grows protective and oddly tactile, drawing circles on the fabric near her chest. She retorts that he deserves to be slapped.

Cleo reappears and reiterates that her letters are worth little; in a fit she hurls a knife at Bohoušek. He dismisses her again and finally gives her five crowns to leave him alone. The encounter underscores the volatility around money and old reputations.

A woman and her son arrive seeking a balance sheet their son lost in the store. They become tangled in Cleo's huge pile of old love letters, and Cleo struggles to locate her missing son among the clutter.

Hanta and an older coworker cut up statues of Jesus, angels and other martyrs for their boss. They trade vulgar stories and jokes, causing the statues' eyes to roll in their heads.

Hanka remarks that the 'angels' they cut up will bleed, while the older man counters that such bleeding only happens the first time. The exchange underscores the shop's crude humor and macabre undercurrent.

The woman continues looking for her son Pepicek while Bohoušek remains angry that his employees cut up the Christ statue. The tension between care for people and damaged art intensifies the shop’s chaos.

Hanta visits the bar where the matron is angry that he told everyone she was pregnant. He soothes her anger by quoting excerpts from a romance book called The Baron's Desire. The bar scene provides a human moment amid the shop’s madness.

Bohoušek's cat becomes loose and bites 30 kids, prompting animal services to want it put down. He is very angered by this chaotic consequence of his household and shop life. The incident heightens the sense of disorder around him.

The angry mother finds the missing boy Pepicek and scolds him to go back and find the missing balance sheet. The moment blends parental frustration with the ongoing hunt for lost papers.

Bohoušek is alone in his room humming O Sole Mio and stacking the bits of the angel statues on one another. He pities Hanta for being such a scoundrel and declares that his own pervert character is an act born from existential pointlessness.

Hanta leaves and tries to hit the mechanical sign in the main hall on the way out, but it takes a couple of attempts. The scene caps the day with the shop’s persistent oddity and stubborn energy.