Good Morning, Town!

Director Jiří Hanibal is primarily known for his children’s films. Though a lesser-known work, Dobrý den město (Good Morning, Town!) is a worthy 1976 film that tells the story of a group of residents of the city of Kladno. The metropolis of Czechoslovakia’s industrial iron production industry serves as a perfect mid-70s backdrop for an ideologically “correct” tale of ordinary working class folk. Hanibal and screenwriter Tomáš Tintěra offer up four central protagonists spanning several generations. These include a young driver and soon-to-be father; a divorced single father bringing up an 11-year-old son; a foreman at the local iron mill going into retirement; and an elderly couple about to move into an apartment block. While the individual stories naturally conform to the ideological message sought by those in charge of the country’s cinema output, nonetheless a rare document of life in Kladno is unwittingly presented, showcasing the plight of an industrial town hit hard by pollution and the degradation of human individuality. The haunting music score by Luboš Fišer offers a distinct contrast to the outwardly positive stories portrayed on the screen.