Bees Sting in a Sensitive
Spot
Vera Miskova, Pravo, 9. 11. 2001
The screenwriter and director Bohdan Sláma has dispatched the hero of
his second feature film Wild Bees (Divoké včely) to one of the most extreme,
and in regards to living conditions probably the toughest, places in the
Republic. He made his debut five years ago with his school graduation
film White Locusts (Akáty bílé) and right at the beginning it can be said
that over the past few years he has been away on an unexpectedly long
journey. Jiříkov, Rýmařov - what do we know about this corner of the world?
What should we even know about it? The people that live there are rather
ordinary in their own way, and it this very environment with its unusual
toughness, in which the young, and youngest, generations grew up, that
predetermines their future fates.
Except for a few jobs working in the forest, there is practically one
hundred percent unemployment, which is made even worse by the fact that
the bus hardly even goes there. At the beginning of the new century Sláma’s
heroes are all but cut off from the world, which is a stone’s throw away,
with minimum opportunities for studying, entertainment and choice of partners.
The pub and that’s it, with the occasional dance as the height of social
life. Are they less happy, or unhappy, than their contemporaries in the
cities? Can they change something about it? Are they able to leave, and
do they even want to? There is no hiding anything from anyone, but they
also know who is who and what is what. There is always something to talk
about - and isn’t that perhaps in itself a gift? Who of us today really
talks with someone?
Sláma is not looking for answers, but questions related to the extremely
sensitive place, he hammers rather hard but lets the audience find their
own answers. And so, we become acquainted with the bashful, only just
barely adult Kája, who works in the forest with the women, who begins
the day with a quick pick me up and only rarely ends it with something
else.
Božka, the old-young saleswoman in the kiosk, in spite of her youth already
has an idea that Laďa, the overly enthusiastic fan of Michael Jackson
and owner of the building with linoleum, is not a great catch, but who
knows what would await her elsewhere. Most probably because of this, she
radiates an inner peace, which is about the only thing that we can envy
her for. Her friend and colleague Jana has also helped to maker her wiser.
She, between working in the kiosk, caring for her child and a husband
who deposits her earnings in the pub’s automated games, has only the occasional
memories of her past love affair with Kája’s brother.
And there are other people, real characters like Kája’s knowledgeable
grandmother, like the father - the eternal amateur philosopher, Božka’s
mother, who “gives to everyone”, the gamekeeper. Nothing much takes place
in the few days into which Sláma’s story is placed. From the film’s view-point,
the script is rather strong, dramatic moments are alternated with slumps
in the plot, and especially in the middle there are some hollow passages.
Several figures (for example the gamekeeper) don’t fit in too well, and
come close to being caricatures, which is undoubtedly the last thing that
the creator intended.
At any rate, with the instrumental contribution of acting talent, in particular
the absolutely brilliant Tatiana Vilhelmová, Pavel Liška, Zuzana Krónerová,
Eva Tauchenová and the local amateurs led by Zděnek Raušer as a whole,
who all, according to the director, „don’t act, but are”, have developed
an authentic touching film, which is both a contemporary of Gedeon’s Return
of the Idiot (Návratu idiota) and a descendent of Forman’s Black Petr
(Černého Petra). Even if the director insists that the surroundings are
not the most important thing, that the same story and relationships could
have been played out in Prague’s Jiží Město, I think, that to a certain
extent he is wrong, which of course doesn’t hurt the film in any way.
Because in fact, it is this very environment with its essential predetermination
of human fate, that, in addition to the above mentioned acting talent,
makes Wild Bees a film with a sense of humor and that leaves the audience
with a rather strong impression.
|
|
|
Home
