All My Good Countrymen (Vsichni dobri rodaci) by Vojtech Jasny

The first film commemorating the Prague Spring in this blog is by a man somewhat forgotten in the canon of great directors to emerge from the Czech New Wave in the mid to late 1960s. Vojtech Jasny was very prolific in the 1960's up to and including this film and a household name by 1968. His comedy The Cat Who Wore Sunglasses (Az prijde kocour) won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1963 and was nominated for the Golden Palm award too.

All My Good Countrymen (Vsichni dobri rodaci) was also nominated for the Golden Palm in Cannes in 1969 and Vojtech Jasny was to win the award for Best Director at the festival. As the film shows the defiance of a small village community in the years from 1948 to 1958, it was ironic that the Soviet tanks were to shortly move in and crush the dream of the Czech people in the year the film was being made.

Vojtech Jasny in the 1960's

Since this film, Jasny has worked mainly in TV as the censorship was to have an effect on his film career as it was for some many other talented directors of this time. Now at the age of 81, he continues to work to this day, but like many directors will be associated with this historical period in Czechoslovakia that was the New Wave and the Prague Spring.

All My Good Countrymen (Vsichni dobri rodaci)
Czechoslovakia, 1968, 116 mins, cert. 18
Directed by Vojtech Jasny

Set in a Czech village just after the end of World War Two, there is relief and elation in the air as village folk (temporarily) go back to their accustomed way of life. In 1948, however, a new oppressor was present, even in these remote places. The villagers would soon be forced into collective farms in the strict regulations of their new Communist rulers. The film chronicles the years up to 1958, a time in which good people will be taken away (or murdered) by the authorities. Fortunately, one man (Frantisek) will non-aggressively stand up against this, outsmarting the rulers.

Vojtech Jasny has still managed to inject a lot of humour into this film. There are quirky characters, and an upbeat Brass band soundtrack. Later we will see such a band playing in the village. This mood depicts a community not too dissimilar from that depicted in Milos Forman’s banned (for many years) film ‘The Fireman’s Ball’. The love interest comes from the village Postman who falls for a local girl. He gets shot but the murderer is never traced.

All My Good Countrymen

The cinematography makes full use of the isolated but beautiful landscapes, serving the lyrical approach very well as it chronologically charts the events; Summer 1949, July 1951, Autumn1951, Christmas 1954, Spring 1955, etc., representing the landscapes in different seasons. One of the other reasons this film must have outraged the authorities is that there were artistic insertions that probably alienated the intentions of film as a serving the Communists, in the same way that Eisenstein was condemned by the Soviets in the 1920’s. There are memorable uses of photography, particularly the scene in the bar when all the drinkers are static, alluding to the year zero state of Eastern Bloc countries, time standing still. Also memorable are close-up shots of the beautiful array of wild colourful flowers that slowly come into focus (representing intoxication?) and the white horse running in the field, exemplifying freedom.

One of the many Czech films denied the public in the counter-revolutionary reforms that took place in August 1968. It didn’t happen straight away, in fact this film was entered into the 1969 Cannes film festival, and director Vojtech Jasny took away the Best Director prize. The reason for the film’s banning was that it obscured the intended aims of political development and also criticised the ‘Socialist’ villages. The film ultimately criticises the Communists for behaving in the same totalitarian way as Nazi Germany during the war. Also, it criticises the way neighbours turn informers and incompetent people are put in charge, something, sadly, that still exists in both Western and Eastern societies to this day.