Summary
After his chilling condemnation of the communist regime in Ucho (The Ear, 1970), director Karel Kachyňa was forced to strictly adhere to the “normalization” era ideology of Prague's Barrandov film studios. This is evident in his subsequent adaptation of a short story by Petr Jilemnický, O dvoch bratroch (The Story of Two Brothers) – a socially critical piece, which tells the story of two siblings of different temperaments. The narrative takes place in the Moravian-Silesian village of Žitková during the Great Depression. The industrious Josef returns to his father’s house with his family. However his younger brother, the greedy alcoholic Vendel, disapproves of his conduct. For he desires to inherit his father’s farmstead himself…. In Škaredá vesnice (The Ugly Village, 1975) Karech Kachyňa utilises contrived folklore motifs. To achieve a greater degree of authenticity, the cast is comprised mostly of lesser-known actors. The film is dominated by an impressive performance from Petr Čepek in the role of the ex-serviceman Vendel Juriga.
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