Servants (2020)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Servants |
| Original title | Služobníci |
| Country of production | Slovakia , Romania , Czech Republic , Ireland |
| original language | Slovak |
| Publishing year | 2020 |
| length | 80 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ivan Ostrochovský |
| script |
Rebecca Lenkiewicz , Marek Leščák , Ivan Ostrochovský |
| production | Ivan Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovský , Katarína Tomková |
| music |
Miroslav Tóth , Cristian Lolea |
| camera | Juraj Chlpík |
| cut |
Jan Daňhel , Martin Malo , Maroš Šlapeta |
| occupation | |
| |
Servants (original title Služobníci ) is a film drama by Ivan Ostrochovský that celebrated its world premiere on February 24, 2020 at the Berlin Film Festival and is due to hit Czech and Slovak cinemas in March 2020.
action
In the early 1980s in totalitarian Czechoslovakia . Juraj Bednar and Michal were accepted as candidates for priesthood at the Faculty of Theology in Bratislava on recommendation, with a strictly regulated daily routine. The dean of the institute admonishes his new seminarians not to allow themselves to be diverted from the right path of the church. Radio Free Europe , based in West Germany, reports on the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops and that the country's Catholic Church has asked the Holy Father for assistance. The communist regime threatens to smash the Catholic Church if it does not submit to strict controls and restrictions on freedom of belief and expression. Doctor Ivan Frantinek, a State Security officer from the Department of Such Issues, pays the institute a visit. Soon all typewriters will be confiscated so that no unwanted pamphlets can be circulated. State security staff question some of the students and ultimately take one away. Frantinek urges a teacher at the institute to swear the students to the government's political line.
Juraj and Michal share a bunk bed, but are assigned to different groups in class. Juraj learns that one of the senior seminarians is in contact with an underground organization that reports to Radio Free Europe and the Vatican about the incidents, including those at the institute, and is taken by him to a meeting of the group. When Father Coufar is found dead after being tortured for days by the State Security because he did not want to cooperate with the communist regime, they inform the members of the institute about this too, because they hid a typewriter for such cases.
Michal has the feeling that he and Juraj are no longer real friends because he no longer tells him everything as he used to, but he just doesn't want to get him into trouble. When a peace conference of the state-sponsored Pacem priestly association begins in Terris, the students go on hunger strike. Juraj is first interrogated naked by the state security, then beaten and threatened in another interrogation. He should tell what he knows about the death of Father Coufar and the hunger strike. He is forced to sign a contract that obliges him to act as an informant for the State Security. Michal tells his friend that it was he who started the hunger strike. When he wakes up the next morning, his friend's blood is dripping down on him from above. Juraj committed suicide.
Historical
Jörn Schumacher from the Christian media magazine pro remarks that in 1980, in which the film is set, the years of oppression of the church by the communist regime have clearly left their mark: “The state tried to eradicate religiosity in the country and therefore pursued strict restrictions the church. The connection between the Czechoslovak Catholics and the Roman Catholic world church should be destroyed. ”From 1971, when the“ Association of Catholic clergymen Pacem in terris ”was founded, in which Catholic clergy consciously professed their support for the atheist regime, the Czechoslovakia has not been publicly ordained a bishop for 23 years. This association of so-called "peace priests" existed until 1989.
production
Directed by Ivan Ostrochovský , who also wrote the script together with Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Marek Leščák . After Koza, it is Ostrochovský's second feature film. After several short documentary films and series, his documentary debut Velvet Terrorists celebrated its premiere at the 2014 Berlinale . Koza , who Ostrochovský presented at the Berlinale 2015 , was selected as the Slovak Oscar entry for 2016 .
The young actors Samuel Polakovič and Samuel Skyva , who play the students Michal and Juraj, make their debut as actors in the film. Vladimir Strnisko plays the dean of the Theological Faculty in Bratislava, Tomas Turek an older student who is in contact with the underground movement, and Vlad Ivanov Doctor Ivan from the State Security. Milan Mikulčík , Vladimír Zboroň and Martin Šulík can also be seen in other roles .
From February 24, 2020, Servants was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in the newly introduced Encounters competition section and celebrated its world premiere here. At the end of March and beginning of April 2020 it will be shown as part of the New Directors / New Films series, a joint film festival of the New York Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
reception
Reviews
Marius Nobach from the Film Service writes that Ivan Ostrochovský found intense scenes in the scenes in the seminar for mistrust and spying on the one hand and the expression of friendship and solidarity, which unfold their force primarily through the stylish design of the film: "The white ones The churchmen's shirts and black cassocks underline the black and white contrasts, the faces look like they have been chiseled out of marble, shadows and reflections increase the oppressive mood, and there is also a sound design made up of gloomy, atonal tone sequences. " With this, the drama quickly makes the transition to an atmosphere like in film noir , in which the noose around the opponents of the regime is tightening, says Nobach. Beyond the concrete historical circumstances, the film is ultimately a generally valid wake-up call that basic ethical principles and oppressive structures are never compatible, says Nobach.
Vladan Petkovic writes in the online cinema magazine Cineuropa that the film was masterfully shot by Juraj Chlpik in high-contrast black and white and in academy format . The cameraman uses the rigid architecture of the seminar in the background to convey the oppressive atmosphere, which is strongly supported by the intimidating slow pace of the film and the booming soundtrack, which hits horror-like, eerie registers with occasional atonal female singing. The director does not seek to provide facts or explanations, but to show the moral and practical dilemma in which the main characters find themselves. The most impressive thing about Servants , however, is how Ostrochovský managed to maintain the tension and uncertainty during the 80-minute runtime.
Jörn Schumacher from the Christian media magazine pro writes that the film has particularly impressive visuals to offer: “The priest students in their black cassocks scurry through the cold, stone corridors, they run around a table while playing table tennis, play soccer or jump on the trampoline. “In between, employees of the secret service recalled numerous agent films about the Eastern powers in the 1980s. At first glance, the calm narrative style does not necessarily do justice to the tense life of the clergy who use their lives to maintain contact with the western world and the Vatican, according to Schumacher. Nevertheless, the film is to be thanked in any case for paying attention to the oppressed Catholic Church during the time of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
Awards
Servants is in the preselection for the European Film Awards 2020 .
Berlin International Film Festival 2020
- Nomination in the competition "Encounters"
Odesa International Film Festival 2020
- Nomination in the international competition (Ivan Ostrochovsky)
Web links
- Servants in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Služobníci / Servants in the program of the Berlin Film Festival
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jörn Schumacher: Communism or Church - Whom Serving? In: pro-medienmagazin.de, February 24, 2020.
- ↑ Interview with Ivan Ostrochovský. In: aic.sk, February 12, 2020.
- ^ A b Fabien Lemercier: Loco Films representing Servants at Berlin. In: cineuropa.org, February 14, 2020.
- ↑ a b Služobníci / Servants. In: berlinale.de. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
- ↑ a b Vladan Petkovic: Review: Servants. In: cineuropa.org, March 3, 2020.
- ↑ Encounters program complete: Vitality of cinema in all its forms. In: berlinale.de, January 17, 2020.
- ^ FLC and MoMA announce the complete lineup for the 49th annual New Directors / New Films. In: filmlinc.org, March 5, 2020.
- ^ Marius Nobach: Servants. In: filmdienst.de. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ↑ EFA 2020 - EFA Feature Film Selection. Part 1. In: europeanfilmawards.eu, August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Arthouse for connoisseurs and the curious: the Berlinale series "Encounters". In: Der Tagesspiegel, January 17, 2020.
- ^ The 11th Odesa International Film Festival International Competition Program Announced. In: oiff.com, August 20, 2020.