Silent Companion

New movie by Pavel Göbl

Screenplay awarded by Film Foundation. Original book awarded wirh Magnesia Litera Prize.

Coming to cinemas on 10.06 2021.

About the film

genre

Folk farce about the causes of the decay of Western civilization. Absurd tragicomedy. The original, magical realism. The parallel stories of several of the main characters associated with seemingly random synchronicity and humor. Folk-comedy dealing with grace and humor with one of the major themes of contemporary Western civilization – the loss of spiritual identity, its grinding over an empty entertainment.

style

Due to the language of film – a mix of Moravian Slovakia (Slovácko) – Wallachian dialect, the film will cast actors who dominate these dialects and in episodes also local non-actors. The exceptions are a few characters who do not speak dialects (Lenka, her ex-husband …) The theatrical expression should, therefore, be civilian – but with a detachment of informed naivety, ie. in certain, unusual situations the figures to act without surprise. The visual appearance of the film is defined by the White Carpathians, Lopeník. The camera will be conducted in the style of painters Millet (melancholic passages in the film) and Jožo Úprka (playful passages in the film). Quiet and non-expressive. Due to the storyline of the film shooting would take place in late summer and autumn + one winter night. Likewise editing and sound will not draw attention for their own sake.

region

The entire film will be shot in the region around Uherský Brod (Uherskobrodsko). So to show yet still the extant magic of this landscape, its ability to be a full player in action – by how it affects its inhabitants, both in them and in their destinies reflects the effect on their naturel, relationship with the world, with reality and with each other.

theme

In the mountain, village problem arises – almost a full cemetery and no free land around. Most people in the village are Catholics, so saving space by using urns is not a theme here. Municipal bum, logger gravedigger Miroslav Malina comes up with a solution – a classic coffin can be sent into the grave vertically (standing) – and suddenly the tomb is as big as the urn and the problem is successfully pushed (which in the case of some local councils equals solutions). The theme of afterlife desecration in the story touches also contemporary phenomena (Christianity vs. Islam) – the characters are confronted with this through the media, commenting on ti naturally, however, from their angle of view, with their words, limited by their horizon; which is, among other things, quite natural current source of humor.

Mira’s figure is joined with other characters and storylines, whose little stories that concern him. Lenka lonely, longing for a baby, but afraid to have a relationship with a man. Her father, whose home village was flooded – together with the plum brandy inherited after his father. Fanda, who likes to draw, but can do so only according to printed patterns, according to the real world he fails to draw a straight line …

All these heroes are heading for their goals with the help of their silent companion – conscience, guardian angel …

On a personal level – the desire to love, to overcome loneliness, to screen themselves to the outside world … and especially the effort to fulfill the own dream, although almost on the horizon of time, that was appointed for us … the human effort to catch up on time, not to give up. On a general, level, the film is about the effects of the big world mediated by a mass media attack on small world, on ordinary people – it is not about what the characters say but how they say it, how they act under such influence as the media attack penetrates into their thinking, expression and deeds .. how they change their words and actions … and later their rituals.

idea

Is the loss of influence of the ritual, the loss of its respect, a sign of the end of the culture that experiences it? Or it is just a semblance of the ends and, in fact, it is a new beginning, a natural change, development and perhaps even a sort of deliverance … and so we have to learn to find the spiritual dimension of man in context of presence, where it is possible and not through the sentiment of the past – i.e seek what was lost – not outside (the ceremony), but inside yourself, because only there it persists. Does one necessarily have to “prove something” to gain respect and love of others and his own? Does it make sense to pursue a dream, even though we know that it will only be for a while? And what if the biggest danger, on the contrary, lies in an adherence?

 use

The success of the film can be beneficial to the region in all possible aspects – from tourism to increase the interest in regional culture, both tangible and intangible, traditional and contemporary … on the industry, products … food, beverages.
The film will be shown in cinemas and on TV, and will then be distributed on DVD.

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