Film rebellion: communists banned gems of our cinematography

In the 1950s, the regime’s control over the film industry was absolute. No vault movies even had a chance to be created. However, with a certain loosening of conditions in the mid-1960s, films that were more or less critical of the regime also began to be made. From this period comes a number of pictures that are still among the best in our entire film history. However, the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in 1968 and the subsequent onset of twenty years of so-called normalization made these films prohibited material. Above all, their directors often did not film for a long time. These are some of the ones you should definitely give it a go.

The horror film directed by Juraj Herz The corpse incinerator is one of the best Czech films of all time. It is also rated extremely well by foreign viewers, and Rudolf Hrušínský’s performance is described only in superlatives.

Although the plot of the film takes place in the 1930s and describes the transformation of an exemplary father and husband into a heartless monster devoted to Nazism, the communists evaluated it as a hidden warning against the communist regime and his version of brainwashing. Of course, they were not particularly wrong in this respect, totalitarian ideologies are very similar in many ways, so any criticism of one of them can easily be understood as criticism of totalitarianism in general.

The film by director Vojtěch Jasné is a completely open indictment of the violent collectivization of the countryside in 1948. A small village in which life was going on peacefully and without major problems suddenly has to deal with through the process of nationalization and creation of JZD. This will divide and antagonize the villagers. Former friends suddenly turn on each other and begin to hate each other. Vlastimil Brodský, Waldemar Matuška and also Radoslav Brzobohatý appeared in the main roles. The film ran in theaters for about six months before being banned.

The film directed by Jaromil Jireš was shot based on the novel by Milan Kundera. Its main character is a university student who sends a letter to his girlfriend openly criticizing the regime. Because the girl is a fanatical communist, she betrays her boyfriend. He is subsequently expelled from school and sent to the auxiliary technical battalions, which, of course, were not really like the ones in the comedy Black Barons. Josef Somr excels in the leading role.

Karel Kachyna’s film takes place at the very end of World War II. The protagonist here is a little boy, Olin, who tries to lead the family horse to safety. He loses it thanks to the German soldiers, but he also witnesses the cruel behavior of the Czechs towards an alleged collaborator, who commits suicide based on this. Olin also encounters members of the Red Army, who are also portrayed in a very bad light here. The film thus completely undermines the regime’s description of the end of the Second World War, which was one of the basic building blocks of the entire communist ideology.

Director Evald Schorm filmed the story of a churchman who pretends to be a priest and for the first time in his life, in a remote village, he enjoys a sense of importance and recognition. The role of the churchman was played by Vlastimil Brodský, and the regime banned the film practically immediately after the premiere, because tolerance is too much emphasized in it or the need for individual realization is highlighted. In addition, the representative of the church is portrayed here in a unequivocally positive way, and the film ends with his death on the run from StB.