"Birds, Orphans and Fools", a Czechoslovakian film, was directed by Juraj Jakubisko in 1968, but was subsequently suppressed for almost two decades. Apocalyptic, surreal and tonally all over the place, the film is largely set in a bombed-out church, where it revolves around Yurick, Andrey and Marta, a trio of photographers, Jews, orphans and friends.
The film's first half finds the trio living a seemingly idyllic, free, Utopian life. It then becomes a political manifesto in which love triangles and jealousy begin to tear the group apart. Nude frolicking, innocence and an Edenic existence are then swiftly replaced by hellish feuds. The film's end signifies the crushing of the Czech New Wave, the end of Czechoslovakia's liberal hopes, and a growing animosity toward really existing socialism. Jakubisko was banned from making films for almost fifteen years.
Ironically, the film was released during - and is in a way explicitly about - the Prague Spring, when attempts were made to democratise the country and loosen the centralization of Czechoslovakia's economy. For a while many viewed this as a new, "humane" variety of socialism, but Russia responded to these measures by invading Czechoslovakia, her satellite state, outright. The Soviet Union's commitment to power, rather than to the aspirations of working people, and its paranoia about losing control to what it perceived to be market liberalization, then resulted in a kind of neurosis, where it became increasingly dictatorial. After the invasion, disillusionment in Marxist-Leninist views spread. Eurocommunist ideas bloomed out of this disillusionment, but these movements themselves subsequently collapsed.
Ironically, an extensive 2004-6 poll found that Czechs overwhelming prefer or were fond of life under Soviet "communism". Those polled found it less oppressive, experienced less persecution and found the era more free. In contrast, polls taken during the late 1980s and mid 90s, a period in which the country was preparing for Slovakian democracy, saw those polled overwhelmingly optimistic about their country's move into late capitalism (and critical of Soviet rule). So we see both eras tainted by nostalgia, sentimental memories and extreme disillusionment.
8/10 - Worth one viewing.
The film's first half finds the trio living a seemingly idyllic, free, Utopian life. It then becomes a political manifesto in which love triangles and jealousy begin to tear the group apart. Nude frolicking, innocence and an Edenic existence are then swiftly replaced by hellish feuds. The film's end signifies the crushing of the Czech New Wave, the end of Czechoslovakia's liberal hopes, and a growing animosity toward really existing socialism. Jakubisko was banned from making films for almost fifteen years.
Ironically, the film was released during - and is in a way explicitly about - the Prague Spring, when attempts were made to democratise the country and loosen the centralization of Czechoslovakia's economy. For a while many viewed this as a new, "humane" variety of socialism, but Russia responded to these measures by invading Czechoslovakia, her satellite state, outright. The Soviet Union's commitment to power, rather than to the aspirations of working people, and its paranoia about losing control to what it perceived to be market liberalization, then resulted in a kind of neurosis, where it became increasingly dictatorial. After the invasion, disillusionment in Marxist-Leninist views spread. Eurocommunist ideas bloomed out of this disillusionment, but these movements themselves subsequently collapsed.
Ironically, an extensive 2004-6 poll found that Czechs overwhelming prefer or were fond of life under Soviet "communism". Those polled found it less oppressive, experienced less persecution and found the era more free. In contrast, polls taken during the late 1980s and mid 90s, a period in which the country was preparing for Slovakian democracy, saw those polled overwhelmingly optimistic about their country's move into late capitalism (and critical of Soviet rule). So we see both eras tainted by nostalgia, sentimental memories and extreme disillusionment.
8/10 - Worth one viewing.