This lively juxtaposition of pathos, comedy, fantasy, and politics presents the doubled-story of a medieval court jester who is obliged to entertain his queen and of his counterpart, the chateau’s present-day caretaker, who thinks he has discovered the former queen in a German tourist. Both the jester and the custodian are played by the distinguished Czech mime Polivka. Chytilová employs exuberant visual techniques, music, costume design, and pageantry to create an anarchic allegory that recalls the best of her work from the New Wave period.