„Koločava, krajina, kterou můžete najít na mapě, ale my jsme ji hledali v lesní tmě, v plameni a kouři sobotních ohňů, kdy se člověku zachce hodit všechno za hlavu a nemyslet na to, že po neděli přijde pondělí…“
Balada pro banditu is a Czech musical about a man named Nikola Šuhaj, a thief from the Karpathian region of Ukraine around the time of the first world war. It's a story about outlaws and war and love and death and sex and sadness and the choices one makes in a land where there is not much choice, really. And it's beautiful. It was filmed in 1978 on a low budget. I remember seeing it and hearing the songs when I was about five, having no grasp at all of anything that was going on but liking it. I remember running to these songs over the Czech hills in the fog. I forget about its existence most of the time, but it must be in my subconscious, because when I got my first guitar (which I never learned to play very well but someday will, I swear), I named it Eržika.
