All My Good Countrymen

Film Review by Lewis Porteous | 23 Nov 2015
Film title: All My Good Countrymen
Director: Vojtěch Jasný
Starring: Radoslav Brzobohatý, Vladimír Menšík, Waldemar Matuška, Vlastimil Brodský
Release date: 23 Nov
Certificate: 12

One of the finest films from Vojtěch Jasný, "the spiritual father of the Czech New Wave," comes to DVD

Vojtěch Jasný achieved some measure of international recognition alongside the likes of Miloš Forman and Jiří Menzel as part of the 1960s Czech New Wave. Where he differed from his contemporaries was in having spent the previous decade honing his craft and delighting critics. 1968's All My Good Countrymen is buoyed by reckless energy and wonder, yet is notably the work of an established master. Its tone and pacing are erratic, but the whole creates an impression of meticulous structure.

Set mostly between May 1945 and the summer of 1957, the film charts a changing political climate's impact upon a small Moravian village. We see post-war idealism give way to communist austerity, itself a precursor to Stalinism, before hope is offered by the Prague Spring. Jasný's narrative is simple enough, but it's his affection for corruptible, flawed humanity that captivates. [Lewis Porteous]

Released by Second Run