Desire & All My Good Countrymen – Second Run

So much attention is paid to the Czech New Wave that critics often forget that there was a film industry in the country before that and a number of the notable filmmakers of the period had already been working since the 50s. One such director was Vojtech Jasný. He won several awards at Cannes so was lauded during his time but has become forgotten over the years, largely due to his exile that followed the Soviet state’s restrictions on the media that ended the New Wave.

Jasný is being celebrated by Second Run though, who have compiled a special edition Blu-ray box set containing two of the director’s best-known films, as well as a bonus early feature and later short.

I’m always interested in watching whatever Second Run put out, so got hold of a copy of Desire & All My Good Countrymen – Two films by Vojtěch Jasný and my thoughts follow.

Desire (Touha)

Director: Vojtech Jasný
Screenplay: Vladimír Valenta
Based on a Story by: Vojtech Jasný
Starring: Jan Jakes, Václav Babka, Jana Brejchová
Running Time: 95 min
Year: 1958
Country: Czechoslovakia
BBFC Certificate: 12

Jasný co-directed a number of documentaries with Karel Kachyňa at the start of his career through the early 50s, as well as several short films and a couple of features, but it was 1958’s Desire (Touha) that got him noticed as a solo director on the world stage. Jasný received the Best Selection award at Cannes, as well as being a contender for the Palme d’Or.

The film is split into four parts, each representing a different age of man/woman as well as a different season. The first, set in spring, sees a young boy trying to figure out where his new baby sister has come from. The second, set in summer, follows the blossoming romance between a hard-working man and a young woman whose future is yet to be decided. The third part, set in autumn, finds a stubborn middle-aged farmer struggling to stand her ground against the co-operative running the rest of the land in the region. The final section, set in winter, follows the final days of an elderly mother, whose two grown-up sons have come to visit.

Desire is an achingly beautiful film, that makes exceptionally good use of the natural surroundings of rural Czechoslavakia to create a poetic portrait of the country at the time and of life in general. There’s a stunning dream sequence in the first section too, where the young boy runs up a hill topped with sheets blowing in the wind and crows flying between them.

Away from this diversion, there’s a wonderful naturalism to it all, despite painting quite an idyllic view in the first two stories. The opening section is particularly sweet, with the innocence and imagination of childhood perfectly encapsulated. The second feels a little syrupy in its mid-section but effectively portrays young love and ends on a fittingly open note.

Story three is the only social realist part of the film, in line with party-friendly work. Thankfully it doesn’t take sides and never feels like propaganda so doesn’t mar the film, in fact, it’s every bit as good as the rest of it.

The final story, meanwhile, is a touching, sensitive portrayal of life at its end. It tops the film off beautifully and was inspired by the death of Jasný’s own mother, only a couple of years prior to making Desire.

Presenting a sweetly poetic ode to life, Desire warms the heart through its beautiful imagery and natural portrayals of key stages in all our lives. It’s definitely a film that deserves to be better known.

All My Good Countrymen (Všichni dobří rodáci)

Director: Vojtech Jasný
Screenplay: Vojtech Jasný
Starring: Vlastimil Brodský, Radoslav Brzobohatý, Vladimír Mensík
Running Time: 121 min
Year: 1968
Country: Czechoslovakia
BBFC Certificate: 12

Jasný began his career making films for the state but after seeing the poverty Communism caused elsewhere and the frightening control the powers that be were exerting over the country, he changed his tune.

Initially, he had to hide his opinions in fantasy films, most notably When the Cat Comes (a.k.a. The Cassandra Cat or Az prijde kocour) and other seemingly innocuous stories, but in 1968, with changing attitudes and the Prague Spring, he believed he could be more openly critical of Communism. So he began work on a story he’d been gestating for a while, All My Good Countrymen (a.k.a. All My Compatriots or Všichni dobří rodáci).

The film still got him in trouble and was “banned forever” in 1973, when the Soviet authorities published a notorious blacklist of films. Due to his success in the country and abroad, Jasný was given the chance to continue making films in Czechoslavakia if he recanted his views displayed in All My Good Countrymen but he refused. He worked abroad following this but never received the kind of acclaim he got at the start of his career. Jasný didn’t return to Czechoslovakia until towards the end of his life.

All My Good Countrymen opens with an initially idyllic community living joyfully in mismatched harmony following the end of the Second World War. Time moves on though and with it comes the introduction of Communism to the village.

At first, this just seems like an inconvenience to a few inhabitants, but as the small group of party members in the village begin to throw their weight around and seize control of various buildings and pieces of land, cracks begin to appear in the initially friendly facade and the community slowly breaks apart.

The anti-communist aspects of the film are blatantly clear then and it’s a wonder it was even allowed into production. A big target is the greedy land-grabbing that took place during the conversion. Farmers in particular had their land taken off them and ruined by people who didn’t know what to do with it or overworked it with unrealistic quotas. Those taking control are often shown to have previously been on the lower rungs of society and are snatching larger properties to live it up for a change.

The community is shown to let it happen initially because it’s their friends introducing the idea and making the changes. Once they see what’s going on though, the villagers are more reluctant and the Communists resort to dirty forceful tactics.

What I liked about the political side of the film, is that, although it takes clear pot-shots at the introduction of Communism to the country, it doesn’t paint its characters in plain blacks and whites. Though the Communist members of the community do some cruel things, particularly towards the end, they are shown to be human and you can often see where they’re coming from and what they’re trying to do.

Through this, Jasný seems to be making the sensible argument that Communism is a nice concept with honourable aims but doesn’t work in practice, due to the competitive and greedy nature of man. This more rounded view is much more preferable to the ‘anti-red’ scare tactics of Hollywood in the 50s and later in the 80s.

Away from politics, the film has a gorgeous painterly look in its carefully composed tableaux frames, though it breaks out of this style in key moments, going handheld for the few on-screen deaths as well as in the dance/party scenes, the latter of which are thrillingly shot with dizzying movement.

Speaking of which, these parties are examples of the film’s other great strength, how it brims with life. Much like Desire, there’s a wonderful naturalism to the performances and, when Communism isn’t bringing them down, there’s a great sense of joy and love among friends.

This happiness and togetherness of course largely dissipates as the film moves on. Due to this, and the episodic nature of the film, the pace does drag somewhat and my attention waned in places. However, I was always drawn back soon after.

Overall then, All My Good Countrymen is a sweeping yet intimate film that presents a potted history of Communism in Czechoslavakia. Its pace is a little leisurely and some knowledge of Czech history will help your appreciation but, ultimately, this is a beautiful, elegantly directed and profoundly human political statement.

Desire & All My Good Countrymen – Two films by Vojtěch Jasný is out now as a region-free Limited Edition Blu-ray Box-set, released by Second Run. Desire shows a few flecks and scratches and isn’t the sharpest picture I’ve seen but it still looks very nice for a film of its age and relative obscurity. The tonal range is impressive too. All My Good Countrymen looks stunning though, with strong colours, no damage and a crisp but natural look. Both titles sound great too.

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