On the Contrary, He Is Great!

Radovan Urban, 1987

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In her first leading role, Lucie Benešová plays Svatka, a 13-year-old girl who moves into a new house in the Křivoklát region with her parents in 1951. Succumbing to peer pressure and official propaganda, she joins the Pioneer Youth Organisation, but has to keep it secret lest her conservative, bourgeois parents find out. Childhood friendships are disrupted by enmity between various parents, generated by class strife of the collectivisation era. Honza (René Brunč), the son of the communist chairman of the local National Committee, learns this firsthand when his best friend Karel (Jiří Petr) is shunned as the son of a “kulak” (a comparatively wealthy landowning peasant). Meanwhile, Svatka’s father learns he is about to be arrested for “illegal activities” and decides to leave the country… As director Radovan Urban’s first feature film, this 1987 teen movie presents an extremely one-sided and biased view of history that almost calls for a contemporary remake that would offer an alternate perspective.
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About a film

film_production_year 1987
film_countries Czechoslovakia
film_genres children
film_form feature
film_duration 85 min
film_director Radovan Urban
film_cast Lucie Benešová, René Brunč, Jiří Petr, Oldřich Navrátil, Miloš Vávra, Jan Vlasák
film_director_of_photography Martin Benoni
film_screenplay Vojtěch Vacke, Radovan Urban
film_film_editor Jan Chaloupek
film_production_designer Karel Černý
film_music_composed_by Martin Kratochvíl
film_sound_designer Alexandr Vrbata

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