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Admittedly, Divided We Fall cannot boast the same phenomenal
box office success as director Jan Hrebejk’s last film Cosy Dens,
but in spite of that 243,061 viewers made it the fifth most successful
Czech film of 2000.
The film has met with success at a wide variety of film festivals.
And the fact that it will be part of regular American distribution is
something more than unusual for a Czech film. It is no easy task for
a film from a small country in the middle of Europe to compete outside
its own borders, but especially not in the United States, the Mecca of
the film industry. Of course, success first came at domestic festivals,
then at European, and finally at those in the US.
At the Finale Pilsen 2000 it won the main prize, the Golden Kingfisher
and the Don Quixote Jury Prize. In the town of Nove Mesto nad Metuji
in the Czech Republic, at a festival entitled Nove Mesto’s Barrel
of Laughs 2000, the film won six awards: the Main Prize for director
and screenwriter, the Audience Award, Best Actor (Boleslav Polivka and
Jaroslav Dusek), Best Actress (Anna Siskova), Best Screenplay, and the
Artistic Award (cameraman Jan Malir). At Febiofest 2001 it won
the film columnists and critics award: a Kristian for Best Drama of
2000.
In March 2001 it won a total of five Czech Lions (all the main
categories): film, director, screenplay, actress (Anna Siskova), actor
(Boleslav Polivka).
Divided We Fall was nominated for the European Film Award
(along with Loners and All My Closest), and at the Cottbus IFF
it won the FIPRESCI Film Critics Award.
At the category “A” Montreal IFF in August 2000 it received great
acclaim, and at the same time the first foreign reviews started coming
out about the film.
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