Directed by:
Agnieszka HollandScreenplay:
Štěpán HulíkCast:
Táňa Pauhofová, Jaroslava Pokorná, Petr Stach, Igor Bareš, Vojtěch Kotek, Adrian Jastraban, Patrik Děrgel, Ivan Trojan, Jenovéfa Boková, Denny Ratajský (more)Plots(1)
Full of star actors, the drama Burning Bush is based on real events and real characters. Its main character is lawyer Dagmar Burešová (Tatiana Pauhofová), who decided to defend Jan Palach’s mother Libuše (Jaroslava Pokorná) and her brother Jiří (Petr Stach) in a seemingly hopeless court case. The cause of the libel suit filed by the family of the dead student was the scandalous accusation by Communist MP Vilém Nový (Martin Huba), who spoke out at a Communist party meeting in Česká Lípa and downplayed Palach’s sacrifice with some nonsense about “cold fire”. The husband of the courageous lawyer – both of them are forced to cope with the pressure of pro-Soviet collaborators – is played by Jan Budař. (HBO Europe)
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Reviews (11)
Burning Bush is an absolutely perfect work of art and I would love to express my gratitude to the Polish director Mrs. Holland. I would also like to thank HBO for being bold enough to pour so much money into such an important premise, to have the Palach story made into a movie. My thanks also go out to the actors, who showed everybody what good actors they are, and the screenwriter for writing such a good and well-rounded story about Jan Palach. I really have no words to say. Burning Bush is such a demanding and depressing story that all the time it was being told on my screen, I had an unpleasant feeling, I felt sick and sad. I really felt something I seldom feel when watching a movie. It wasn’t only because this movie is about the history of my country, but mainly because it is absolutely amazing cinematography, which shouldn’t be overlooked under any circumstances. The best thing about it is the way they work with emotions – they got my nerves going as well as the nerves of the actors who were working on the movie. The initial outburst of an effort to change things was all of the sudden replaced with fear and hopelessness. This heavy blanket fell on an entire generation until in 1989 the new generation had their voices heard, who were not affected by the 1960’s, and who did away with the communist swine once and for all. By the way, don’t try to tell me that today’s communists are different people. If they were completely different people, they couldn’t be wiping their asses with Palach’s legacy on the anniversary of his death, saying he was a leftist. If there is anybody who should rot in hell, it’s Grebeníček, Filip and all them commie sons-of-bitches, who keep using a sickle and hammer as a logo for their leftist party. My only hope is that people won’t be so stupid again and that they won’t get riled up with political speeches. It was enough they failed at the presidential election, which took a bit of my hope again. Nevertheless, as they say, hope dies last, and the plot of Burning Bush sticks to this credo. And the plot won’t let me sleep for as long as I live.
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Here the Lord's messenger appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a thorn bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. [Exodus, 3.2] The masterful dramatization of events, the echoes of which still haunt us today. Štěpán Hulík chose the most difficult path, examining Palach's act from several angles. He seamlessly transitions from personal testimony to a conspiracy thriller and then to a legal drama, with each having its firmly anchored place in the plot. The way director Agnieszka Holland observes the whole situation is admirable because instead of serving a cheap epitaph of an extreme act, she offers an analytical probe into the era, which primarily calls the nation's conscience into question, a nation known for its very short memory. A multitude of excellent actors (I personally salute Jaroslava Pokorná), a multimillion-dollar budget squeezed to the last drop, and a cinematic event that reminds us that not all films are meant only to entertain us. I can't remember the last time something resonated so strongly within me.
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About Jan Palach’s deed. To achieve appropriate detachment from Palach’s deed in literary terms, we needed the view from outside of the Polish writer, Mariusz Szczygieł. And to achieve detachment in terms of cinema, we need the view from outside of the Polish director, Agnieszka Holland. And when we need... That’s partially true, but apart from the director it is a Czech film and finally thanks to Hulík we can say that we are now able to come to terms with historical skeletons in our closet (and we have lots of those!) like many, mainly the Germans, have been doing over the past years. No, it’s not quite filmed in a completely detached style, but her and there a little dose of pathos and pigeonholing characters works just fine; especially since they have time for this only in episode one where it is understandable. Unarguably the most important documentaries to have emerged in recent years and maybe not the very best (even though after the third “Normalization" episode I thought it probably was), but even so, full of powerful “unobtrusive" scenes and details which we certainly don’t see every day. P.S.: I’m glad that at last someone found the courage to give the powerhouse of the Theater in Dlouhá and one of the most talented actresses of her generation, Jaroslava Pokorná more than one line in a movie; and about time too.
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By the end, I was fidgeting a bit, but that was due to the movie theatre seat - otherwise I can say almost without exaggeration that I watched the film version of Burning Bush without moving for almost three and a quarter hours. That's how haunting I found this extraordinary work, and still do a day later. Of course, seeing the series version, pretty much one episode at a time, maybe (and that’s a big maybe) some of the flaws would show up, because perhaps I would have time to notice them. But this way the film didn't give me a single pretext. The actors, the script, direction, set design... Everything at a very high level. The first third was the best, but the rest was definitely not a disgrace to the film. I give it five of the purest stars.
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The most interesting part is the first one when it's still about Palach and his fate. What follows in the remaining two parts is a somewhat tedious exposition that the communists were real bastards and managed to manipulate everything they wanted to. And so Palach's and Zajíc's actions feel really unnecessary. It's filmed excellently, and Pauhofová was perfectly cast. But it’s four hours long? That's a bit much, considering the central conflict is unwinnable.
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