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 (10)
200 minutes of exquisite filmmaking and beautiful sets only to learn that the communists were/are manipulative and heartless bastards? The first two episodes work perfectly well, script-wise and dramaturgically, and the story, spread among many characters, unfolds as smoothly and casually as the life of the Sultan of Brunei, but in the last part things get unfortunately relegated to a poorly built-up trial that gives too much space to politics and suppresses the real human emotions so abundantly present in the previous two episodes. Nevertheless, it’s an exceptional achievement in terms of direction, music and especially the actors, meeting almost world-class parameters for a strong biopic. This is the path that Czech cinema should take, and the international awards will certainly not be long in coming. 85%
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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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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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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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An epitaph to the dark past of the Czechoslovak nation. A past that took the smile off the people’s faces and yet thirty percent of them want to return to it. It’s sad that a foreign filmmaker had to be hired to capture this past in a dignified manner. Agnieszka Holland confirms her status as a quality dramaturge, and you can sense from the film that the subject matter is close to her heart. Considering it’s a TV production, Burning Bush is well written, convincingly acted and visually attractive, making it worthy of the big screen. I was most impressed by the first, most human third.
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