Directed by:
Vojtěch JasnýScreenplay:
Vojtěch JasnýCinematography:
Jaroslav KučeraComposer:
Svatopluk HavelkaCast:
Vlastimil Brodský, Radoslav Brzobohatý, Vladimír Menšík, Waldemar Matuška, Drahomíra Hofmanová, Pavel Pavlovský, Václav Babka, Josef Hlinomaz (more)Plots(1)
Jasný’s autobiographical All My Good Countrymen is one of the wonders of the Czech New Wave. Its deceptively simple narrative weaves a complex tapestry around the interwoven lives of a group of villagers immediately following the ‘socialization’ of Czechoslovakia in 1948. The film remains a potent reminder of lives, friendships and idealism lost under totalitarian rule. (Second Run)
(more)Reviews (8)
A great film that, considering the time it was made, surprisingly and critically depicts life in the countryside and the relationships that existed there. It's very evident in the film that there was a long preparation before filming, and it paid off. You're interested in the fates of individual characters, and although Radek Brzobohatý's name is most frequently mentioned in connection with the film, Vladimir Menšík completely captivated me.
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An admirable trip into Czech history, to the times when the communist regime cast its nets into the social system and divided people into two opposing groups. All My Compatriots is the story of people who were affected by the rise of communism, both negatively and positively. The film offers wonderful cinematography and beautiful music alongside a look at the unfortunate fate of the inhabitants of one village. In short, one of the rarest gems of Czech cinema, with Radoslav Brzobohatý and Vladimir Menšík showing their best acting skills.
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All My Compatriots is a pretty demanding and hard-to-stomach movie not only for Czechs, but for everybody in general. That being said, it will definitely have a stronger impact on a Czech. The most important thing about the movie is the sad story, which the authors kept working on for twenty years, so I can be sure that there is no nonsense in the movie, only hard reality, which is something I rarely want to see in movies, but which comes in handy if you want to form an opinion of the times. And not only about the times, I would go as far as to say that the way the compatriots were treating one another isn’t that much different from how people treat each other in Czech villages these days. It’s enough for an essential problem to appear and it splits the nation in twain and we’re at it again, just like we saw during the last presidential election. What I appreciate about All MyCompatriots is the raw reality, the way it shines a light on the Czech nature, which is something you get to see quite often in Czech cinema, but nowhere as raw as here. All the actors put in the best performances of their careers, but despite that, what I had the greatest problem with was how cumbersome the movie is. It was really hard to watch for me, so scenes would simply go on and on forever. And that’s why I cannot give this demanding self-reflection on the Czech people a five-star review.
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A classic that I was afraid to watch for a very long time (completely unnecessarily, as it happens). There is no celebration of the rural spirit of life; there is only the honesty of how a one-of-a-kind sort of stubbornness can prove an asset for some, and evokes an almost surprisingly sad expression on the viewer's face. Thanks to the archetypal characters of the imposing František or the bohemian Zášinek, Vojtěch Jasný goes right to the heart of the matter and the few unnecessary parables that don't exactly land do not hinder him one bit.
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Sure, the basic elements of the film are good to excellent, but the purely contemporary faces, hairstyles, make-up, and costumes of a good half of the cast unfortunately, reduce this project to a period average. If we want to deal with the past, it is necessary to convince the viewer of the time in which the story takes place, and not to make the excuse that a few non-actors as decor is enough.
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