Long Live the Republic (1965)
Oldrich is the runt of his village, beaten by his father, bullied by the other boys. But he has imagination on his side, and a wiry toughness they can’t defeat. The village is in turmoil, because the Nazi occupiers have just retreated and the Red Army is advancing. Oldrich dodges amid the mayhem and panic, taking his share of blows but always managing to stay one step ahead. Beautifully shot and darkly ironic, Karel Kachyna’s forgotten masterpiece jumbles reality, memory and fantasy to capture the intensity and confusion of childhood in a war zone.
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It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
I caught this on WNYC the other night and boy is it good! It reminds me a lot of Ivan's Childhood. What a crime this isn't on video. What a crime this guy, who's obviously done a lot of work isn't known at all in this country! But film history is riddled with people like this. There's probably a bazillion obscure European directors who've done great works which eclipse nearly anything any snot-nosed young Indie type is doing now.Some enterprising DVD distributor could make a lot of cinephiles very happy. Anybody listening
A tale of a young boy wandering a landscape torn by war, At' zije Republika (Long Live the Republic) is a heartrending film highlighted by its fantastic editing- we see the boy's life as a jumble of images past, present and imagined. As we see the timeline of scenes come into focus the film becomes one you'll never forget. Outstanding black-and-white cinematography by Jaromir Sofr (Larks on a String, Report on The Party and The Guests). I hope to see more films by this wonderful director Karel Kachyna!