Section: POLSKIE HORYZONTY: The Female Gaze

Hořící keř

Burning bush

Agnieszka Holland
Czech Republic, 2013, 233 Min
Beta Cinema GmbH

Prague's Wenceslas Square on 16 January
1969, five months after the violent suppression
of the Prague Spring by Warsaw Pact
troops. A young man douses himself with
a liquid and sets fire to himself with a
match. A letter is found in his briefcase
elaborating upon the reasons for his
actions. Student Jan Palach committed
suicide by self-immolation in protest
against the invasion of August 1968.
Whilst he lies in mortal agony in hospital,
news of his deed spreads like wildfire
across the country. The students resolve
to organise a strike, the police fear
copycats and all the while Jan's mother
and brother watch over his hospital bed.
He died several days later and the funeral
evolved into a final major protest; an
almost endless, silent sea of people flowing
through Prague's streets. When, several
weeks later, a communist deputy ridicules
Jan's deed, his mother resolves to bring
the case to court.
Agnieszka Holland's three-part drama,
which though including fictional elements
strives for historical accuracy, is one of
the few Czech productions dedicated to
this period which resists the trend towards
nostalgic romanticisation, instead offering
up an unadorned portrayal of the brutality
of a system as well as the moral dilemmas
with which its citizens were daily confronted.
At once a vivid history lesson and
unforgettable cinematic experience.

Filmformat
HDCAM | Farbe / colour
Drehbuch
Štěpán Hulík
Kamera
Martin Štrba
Ton
Petr Cechák
Schnitt
Pavel Hrdlicka
Ausstattung
Milan Býček
Musik
Antoni Lazarkiewicz
Darsteller
Tatiana Pauhofová, Jaroslava Pokorná, Petr Stach, Martin Huba, Ivan Trojan, Jan Budar, Vojtech Kotek, Adrian Jastraban, Patrik Dergel
Produzent
Antony Root, Tereza Polachová
Produktion
HBO Europe
Co-Produktion
Nutprodukce
Kontakt
Beta Cinema GmbH
Cosima Finkbeiner
Gruenwalder Weg 28d
82041 Oberhaching / Munich
Germany
Tel:+49.89.67 34 69 828
Fax:+49.89.67 34 69 888
Cosima.finkbeiner@betacinema.com
www.betacinema.com
Agnieszka Holland

Agnieszka Holland - – born 1948 in Warsaw. Studied at Prague's FAMU film school in the sixties. Contributed towards works of K. Zanussi and A.Wajda, later writing the screenplay to Kislowski's THREE COLOURS: BLUE. In 1981 she emigrated to Paris. Won Oscar nominationsfor ANGRY HARVEST and EUROPA EUROPA.

Movies
(selection)
KOBIETA SAMOTNA (1981)
GORĄCZKA (1981)
BITTERE ERNTE (1985)
TO KILL A PRIEST (1988)
EUROPA, EUROPA (1990)
THE SECRET GARDEN (1993)
WASHINGTON SQUARE (1997)
JULIE WALKING HOME (2002)
COPYING BEETHOVEN (2006)
W CIEMNOŚCI (2011)