oil lamps

A man’s descent into madness. A woman trying to fit her expectations into those of the society. A society at the brink of modernity, but still holding many taboos. Hardly surprising that it was Juraj Herz who decided to adapt the book by Jaroslav Havlíček, given the directors interest in the darker parts of the human mind.

The lovely music by Luboš Fišer sets the tone. Mainly waltzes, both happy and melancholy, accompany the innocent optimism that was before the great wars. The new century was a promising one, money was to be made and a good life for most was in prospect. The old traditions however still hover over the people; especially women cannot abandon their traditional roles. The only fulfillment lies within the family and even innocent fun is at times discouraged. Someone different is accepted, but they are passively given to understand that they have to change.

Among this oppression it is hard to be upfront; true intentions and realities are and stay. Not surprisingly to disastrous consequences. Petr Čepek very successfully changes from a lazy and mischievous bon-vivant to a psychological wreck. Truly frightening are the changes from a charmingly rational manipulator to a tyrannical train-wreck.

A sense of self-loathing is always present and becomes stronger as the dementia goes on. Not surprisingly his untouched wife suffers most from his problems, which would be so much easier to cope with if only truth could be told. But the code of conduct and a society that follows it make any human resolution impossible.

However these problems lead the female lead to undergo a transformation herself – from a very individualistic small town dame to a hard-working and intelligent farmer. However the change in social status seems to make her fit for the future. With a steady income and housing that belongs to her and her husband’s brother, she is in a way free. Living outside of the town’s society, there is much less control and meeting up with old friends from the theater can make for pleasant hours among artists. This makes for an interesting interpersonal dynamic story and acting wise.

Most wonderful about the film Petrolejové Lampy however is the recreation of an era long gone and often idealized. Partly dreamy, the picture changes from a colorful secession era impressionism to the drab world of hard work, hardly changing over the centuries, but still keeping people alive and mostly content. It is in the recreation of a not so distant path that the qualities of the creators of this little jewel merge and create a sense of nostalgia in the viewer. A nostalgia for a time that was hardly perfect for most, especially outside the cultural centers, but a time that enables the modern viewer to dream and enjoy it in the memories. Memories very charmingly influenced by films as this one.

marketa lazarova

Much has been written on this film, thus I see no reason for me to go into the details. However once I have written a short text on the film, as an assignment. The translation of said text follows on the next few lines.

The filmic epos about the rivalry between two families from the low aristocracy somewhere in the Bohemian lands is counted among the gems of the Czech cinematographic output. The director spared no effort in order to recreate the feeling of times long past. This effort shows, as a viewer plunges directly into the fierce Middle Ages.

The characters act on impulse, brutally and without pity. It’s the surroundings that made them the way they are – like the ever present wolves. To survive one is willing to do anything, even today. Perhaps these people are not all that different from modern man. And modernity is already trying to find its way into that world. Christianity promoting goodness and respect toward other humans is nothing but another belief. People stay the same and the new ideology only makes hypocrites out of them. Even the king’s delegates, representatives of the law and order, only care for their own benefit. Besides, what gives them more right to kill and collect money than the poor knight from Roháček. He himself only wants to survive and remain independent.

The wild camera and music support the rawness of the times and people – as if calm would not exist. As if we were in a modern city. From all positions it looks at the protagonists with an inspecting eye and even when it looses itself behind dark walls, conversations are still to be heard. This is a completely different picture of the middle ages than the one by the romantics. There are no brave and decent heroes, a favorable peace in nature is not to be found. Only dirt… dirt and violence. An uncoordinated, arbitrary violence – however very persistent.

In the midst there is the frail and good Marketa. The only angel in this world, an angel that soon will fall from its guarded heaven. The world and its people are pitiless. By the end it is her that holds the future in her hands, the progeny of the dead, that have the chance to become different people. Amid the precedent nihilism it is but a small hope, but hope it is nonetheless. If the director had made the film two years later, perchance not even this hope would have been left.

On a side note, what I strongly admire about František Vláčil, is, like with Jasný, his talent for evoking very specific images. This is mainly done in the last shots of the wide valley. It is exactly like I pictured medieval Bohemia. No idea how the director could recreate this images straight from my mind, but I’m more than glad he did it.

Essential

favorites

A favorites list will follow soon.

 

 

Three Czech films I’d love to rewatch in good quality:

Luk královny Dorotky (Jan Schmidt, 1970)

Faunovo velmi pozdní odpoledne (Věra Chytilová, 1983)

Lev s bílou hřívou (Jaromil Jireš, 1986)

 

Three directors I’d like to explore:

Yuri Ilyenko, Sándor Sára, Prasanna Vithanage

 

Three national cinemas I’d like to explore:

Bulgarian, Indian, Philippine

all my good countrymen

How to decide with which film to start? The legacy of Czech filmmaking is exceptionally strong, going back more than one hundred years. The past years of film critics and hobby cineastes have rediscovered the joys of the vast cinematic landscape of this small country and thus a lot has been written. However from all the pearls scraped up from the depths of time and history there is one that is emblematic of Czechs in a way that I deem others are not. This filmic poem is the epitome of the New Wave and incorporates many traits that are distinctly Czech.

This film was made at the height of the experiment of socialism with a human face, looking back at the then recent historic events that have destroyed many things in the society and culture. However it’s also about Czechs as a whole and a self-criticism by the author, who had made regime supporting films as a rookie in the fifties. Last, but not least it is a summary of the whole movement that Czechoslovakia had witnessed at that time.

The story of Všichni dobří rodáci follows the lives of a few friends in a small Moravian town all through the difficult years after the war, through the collectivization and up to the end of the decade of the Stalinist purges. In the relatively short running time the director, Vojtěch Jasný, has managed to combine many elements found in other output of the time. Starting with a group of people, reminiscent for example of the films by Jiří Menzel, by the end of the film the tragic events are reduced to one individual. The struggles of one individual in a society have been covered by such people like Evald Schorm or Jan Němec in various ways. What both of these parts of the story have in common is the inability of humans to act freely facing outside circumstances that are beyond their control. Ironically they are even beyond the control of those involved, as even these get crushed under the wheels of time and unknown powers, perhaps suggesting a kafkaesque element in the film, or rather Czech worldview, present for example in the masterpieces by Pavel Juráček. The portrayal of all of these people, collaborators or those who cherish freedom and democracy, is very humane. None are condemned, as many of their decisions are in a sense inevitable with regards to their background and society. This bitter humanism again reminds the viewer of Menzel and even Forman or Ivan Passer.

Style is a major component in the conception of this world. The editing of seemingly random scenes of natural beauty and communal enjoyments not only serves to carry mood, but also suggests meanings and associations difficult to achieve otherwise. Here the director shows an extreme talent for evoking images that are, at least to my mind, burned into the subconscious of many Czechs. I cannot say why I feel so, but some scenes remind of things that I cannot have seen with my own eyes, but feel that they are Czech archetypes. These include the landscape choices, the architecture (the film, while playing in Moravia, was shot in Eastern Bohemia thus combining different things Czech even on this level) or even the positioning of actors in relation to the background. The borders to metaphysics are crossed in the most tragic moments. These tricks by the cameraman Jaroslav Kučera (as well as costume and set design by Ester Krumbachová) do not evoke the films by Věra Chytilová by chance. The overall poetic conception, with a tinge of the abstract, naturally reminds of other masters, such as František Vláčil, Karel Kachyňa or Jaromil Jireš.

Apparently the film covers the styles and themes of many New Wave filmmakers, but the director does not forget the inclusion of own concerns. A love for the rural shines through every frame. While many (arche-)types of Czechs are present in the film, there is one role model that is stylized almost o perfection. I dare say the character of the upright, good-hearted but not naive and hard-working farmer is not only a Czech ideal. However as everything good in this bitter worldview even this man is defeated. While the rural life is portrayed in a romantic and metaphysical way, this happens in a knowingly bitter way. As if the director- and the viewer- know that it is just an ideal and both create nostalgia for better times, while knowing that they never really were. But frankly, what should people who know the present is bad and the future is probably going to be even worse, otherwise do…

To not only sing praises for this cinematic treat, there is one criticism that can be held against the film. Watching the film, it becomes clear that it was planned as a much longer feature, but had to be cut down. So let cineastes hope that all of the original footage is hidden somewhere and the director can try to create what he had in mind.

By the end, only the defeated live on. A metaphor for the Czech nation caught in the midst of superpowers unable to live freely, only able to survive by bowing down. All the good countrymen are gone and judging from the undemocratic ways of the European Union, the future is anything but bright.

Essential

humble beginnings

As a long-time film lover I have often thought about starting a blog. From the very beginning it has been clear that I would cover a part of my cinematic journey. My love for film, while present from very early on, has been mostly sparked to a greater degree by some by now famous directors from eastern Asia. However very soon I had become fascinated by the output of the country my parents are from – Czechoslovakia or now the Czech Republic. I had realized that national cinemas very well exist and transport cultural values that form the national consciousness (a feat which seems particularly strong to me in the Czech case) as well as an insight to foreign viewers into the joys and problems of a certain people. Many subtleties however may not be grasped by non-Czechs and even less by viewers that are not from Central Europe. Thus I will at times try to highlight some elements of cinematic joys that may not be apparent to the casual viewer. As I grew up in Switzerland and only time, education and reflection had made me conscious of the ephemeral quality coined “Czechness”, my mind combines an insider’s with an outsider‘s view.

Having seen quite a few films in my short life, I’ve come to realize that certain countries share certain qualities which are rare in other areas. For me it seems that the sense of history and cultural belonging is particularly strong in the CEE countries. This is additionally combined with a certain rationality stemming from Western thought which is not found in European countries farther to the East. In the past month however I’ve discovered that some Italian films share the similar features. In a way I’ve always considered Italians to be rather similar to Czechs in some character traits. But moving on from my view on this once influential nation, I should come to an end for this my very first post.

Due to a similar history, I will include the occasional Slovak film in my blog. Despite being our “brotherly nation”, it seems to me that Czechs often forget about our smaller neighbor, something I wish to change. As this blog is not only about films, I’ll try to write about other things also – depending on mood and time availability. Due to a lack of experience and clear vision, the style of my entries may change strongly as time proceeds. I would be glad to read some CRITISM and other INPUT, as I hope to carry on with this blog for a while.

A special thanks and appreciation from my side goes to Michael Brooke for his ongoing interest and support of the whole Central European region in terms of cinema. I really appreciate it.

For those interested, I would recommend the following books that I find essential with regards to Czech film:

The Coasts of Bohemia – A Czech History (by Derek Sayer) (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1998)

The Czechoslovak New Wave (Second Edition) (by Peter Hames) (Wallflower Press London 2005)

Ostře sledované filmy – Československá zkušenost (by Antonín J. Liehm) (Národní filmový archive, Praha 2001) [Closely Observed Films – This book was originally released in the US, thus there is an English Version]

Hope at least some people will enjoy this blog.