Shadow Country

Hard times awaken the basest desires and instincts in most people, so that they start treating each other worse than animals, without the slightest hint of humanity. And it’s about just such an unfortunate period in Czech history that Bohdan Sláma (who, in my opinion, is one of the best Czech directors of our time) recounts in his movie Shadow Country. This is not only about the past and the region of Vitoraz, where the story takes place, but it can also be applied to our whole country, not to mention the fact that this glimpse into dismal history also has a very cautionary overlap with today. Evil is ever present among us and any social problem or hint of crisis feeds it greatly... The structure of the story could probably be faulted in a few ways, but otherwise it is clearly a work of good craftsmanship in almost every respect. Apart from the music, the period atmosphere is also emphasized by the refined black and white visuals. Another significant positive side are the precise acting performances of all the actors. (85%) (2022-08-27)

Regardless of how the character portrayal of the Czechs and Germans may bother many people, I liked Shadow Country, mainly thanks to its black and white visuals, the raw (and by Czech standards solid) performances of the actors and the story itself, which in one village during the 1930s to 1950s illustrated the conditions that prevailed at that time. Regardless of whether the plot was more or less true or scripted, there were definitely some scenes that didn't leave me cold, even though it is quite a lightweight concoction in terms of rawness compared to last year's The Painted Bird. It's hard to judge people you don’t know and times you have not experienced, and although Bohdan Sláma's film casts shadows of blame more on the Czech population, on the other hand we can't lump all Germans into one (Nazi) bag. Similarly, it is difficult to judge the pro-German population, did they do it for money, property, status, or just to survive and not get sent to a camp? In this respect, I'm a fairly ahistorical and tolerant viewer, and perhaps that's why I don't feel so irritated by Shadow Country. (2020-09-12)

I have quite an issue with this film. It’s not because of the subject matter. I try not to view history as black and white, so I don't think that every German is a Nazi, or that every Czech is a brave resistance hero. The Czechoslovak Revolutionary Guards are on the level of the Dirlewanger Brigade as far as I’m concerned, so the film didn’t cause any damage to my national pride. What bothered me, however, was that there wasn't enough character development, and the plot didn’t sufficiently convey the events. Despite it being over two hours, the running time wasn’t enough. The main message: war is atrocious, and it breeds even more atrocity. I agree, but I’m giving it only three stars. (2021-04-24)

Best movie by Bohdan Sláma, but not everyone will like it. Those who are imbued with naive ideals about Czech heroes, those who do not like to admit betrayal, cowardice and collaboration under all regimes and by anyone, and those who this film will bring skeletons out of the closet. I do not belong to any of these groups and I am excited that Bohdan Sláma made such a film. It cannot be pinned to a specific geographic area, a part of the region, one village and one historical event. It must be viewed from the perspective of the whole Czech Republic, or Czechoslovakia, and a series of historical events of the turbulent twentieth century. I particularly appreciate the comparison of two time periods, which, however, had diametrically different consequences. Acting-wise, Csongor Kassai, Magdaléna Borová, Barbora Poláková, and Jiří Černý stood out and shone from my point of view. In addition, excellent camera work and black and white added the necessary rawness and authenticity to everything. I haven't seen The Painted Bird yet, but for me this will probably be the Czech film of the year 2020. (2021-01-09)

This is one of the great black-and-white widescreen films about great things that is exactly what it should theoretically be. The question is whether these crystalline obligatory films really need to be made. Nobody will even bother with the fact that the soundtrack features randomly chosen German hits that are completely wrongly chosen because apparently, it was enough for Sláma that the lyrics are in German, and German is the definition of evil. (2021-01-22)