C.K. Dezerterzy - a two-part Polish-Hungarian comedy film from 1986, directed by Janusz Majewski. The script was based on a novel by Kazimierz Sejda entitled C.K. Dezerterzy. The fate of its main characters is continued in the film Gold Deserters (1998), also directed by Janusz Majewski.
The action of the film takes place in 1918, at the end of World War I. A new deputy commander, Oberleutnant Franz von Nogay, arrives at the guard company in Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary. He intends to transform the jumble of marauders into a true imperial and royal army. Meanwhile, a clever Pole, Jan Kaniowski - known as Kania - along with Hungarian Benedek and a Jewish tailor from Vienna, Haber, plan to desert the barracks. The money they need to do so is obtained by blackmailing visiting customers of the brothel and restaurant. The three decided to join the Italian prisoner Baldini, whom von Nogay made his orderly, and Chudej, a Czech printer from Prague who pretended to be an idiot in front of his superiors.
After obtaining the appropriate documents, the friends board the train to Košice. After a short stay in the town, a group of refugees goes to Budapest. After numerous adventures, they are arrested by the gendarmerie and put on trial. The hearing is interrupted by the news of the end of the war. This marks the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. All soldiers can leave the barracks and regain freedom.
