Všichni dobří rodáci (All Good Countrymen) is considered to be one of the greatest of all Czechoslovak films. However, soon after its July 1969 premiere, the film, from writer-director Vojtěch Jasný, found itself on the list of banned works. In 1970, Jasný emigrated and continued his filmmaking career in Germany. But Vojtěch Jasný ultimately returned to Czech film via Návrat ztraceného ráje (Which Side Eden, 1999), which serves as a loose sequel to Všichni dobří rodáci. These two movies are viewed as the highpoints of Jasný’s directorial career. Jasný’s 1968 effort won him a Best Director award at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. Všichni dobří rodáci was also awarded the Technical Grand Prize – Special Mention at this same festival in recognition of the excellent colour cinematography of Jaroslav Kučera. Indeed, the camera essentially serves as an additional character in this film, which tells the story of several neighbours in a small Moravian village, whose sense of joyful solidarity is strongly disrupted by the advance of 1950s collectivisation policies. This poetic chronicle in which director Jasný drew inspiration from his native town of Kelč, also boasts tremendous costume design from Ester Krumbachová. Innovative experimentation with colours, contrasts and natural light infuses Všichni dobří rodáci with an unforgettable atmosphere: it is an archetypically “pleasant” film, whose visual beauty contrasts strongly with (and perhaps even masks) the painful events depicted in the story. Jasný’s film is filled with a poetic spirit, occasionally elevated to truly surrealistic moments, which are in perfect harmony with the film’s themes of love and death – and which touch most of the main characters of the film. While love pangs draw local postman and an attractive widow into an outwardly carefree existence, the efforts of the kleptomaniac neighbour Pyřk (Vladimír Menšík) to outsmart fate lead to his tragic death. And the free-living peasant Zášinek (Waldemar Matuška) is impaled by a bull after being riddled with guilt for causing the death of his Jewish wife during World War II. Farmer František (Radoslav Brzobohatý) draws attention to himself; tight-lipped, honest and stubborn, he represents an almost self-destructive love for his native soil. And it he is who becomes the embodiment of a moral imperative – which inevitably leads to his falling victim to the new communist regime, violently forcing these villagers to become dislocated from their land. Jasný’s evocation of a natural harmony between the land and those who till it ends up serving as a kind of alternative patriotic mythology with true pathos.
A mosaic of the fates of the inhabitants of one of South Moravian villages following the end of the Second World War. May 1945. The atmosphere bursts with enthusiasm and hopes for future. Organ-player Očenáš rehearses a choir song celebrating Soviet soldiers. Incorrigible thief Jořka Pyřk steals a car left by the Germans, and industrious farmer František zestfully ploughs on his field. Early spring 1948. The Communists have seized power and people begin to divide themselves in opposing camps. Some farmers - usually those lazy and less capable - went in for politics and established an action committee, chasing the biggest farmer, Kurfiřt, out of the village and confiscating his vast farmstead. June 1949. People live in uncertainty and worry over the new conditions. Postman Bertin is shot by unfortunate accident. The communist injustice affects the village parish priest, who is arrested. Očenáš, mistakenly considered the originator of this wrongdoing, is forced to leave the village. July 1951. Jořka, in fear of imprisonment, does himself blood poisoning and dies. Autumn 1951. The second biggest farmer in the village, Zášinek, suffers from twinges of conscience for his very young Jewish wife whom he had divorced during the German occupation, and who died soon afterwards in a concentration camp. After one night spent in debauchery, Zášinek is killed by a bull. June 1952. The honest farmer František, who enjoys general respect and authority throughout the village, refuses to sign a document which would make him join the newly established agricultural cooperative. Being an exemplar to the rest of the villagers, he is thus kidnapped one day by those now in power. Christmas 1954. The fatally ill František escapes from the criminal military service and returns home. All the villagers unite to protect him. Spring 1955. František, still weak, but recovered, farms again. Summer 1957. The functionaries keep insisting that the village farmers join the cooperative. As soon as the police takes František away, they all give in to the pressure. Winter 1958. It is only the desperate state of the formerly thriving farms that makes František eventually join the cooperative. His honest struggle to improve the situation earns him the position of the cooperative's chairman. Epilogue. Many years have passed and Očenáš returns to the village, finding to his sorrow that František has worked himself to death. The remaining fellow-countrymen grew old, time smoothed all the edges and brought them peace and acquiescence.
The carnival masks were created by lady artists Štěpánka Bernášková and Věra Kamarádová.
sedlák František
Františkova žena
varhaník Očenáš, předseda místní organizace KSČ
Očenášova žena
sedlák Zášinek
Zdena, Zášinkova žena
Jořka Pyřk zvaný Kradák
listonoš Bertin, tajemník akčního výboru
vdova Machačová zvaná Veselá vdova
krejčí Franta zvaný Lampa
Lampova žena
polír Máčala, tajemník národního výboru
domkář Zejvala, předseda menšinového družstva
fotograf Josef Plécmera, nový předseda místní organizace KSČ
Fana, Plécmerova žena
zedník Joza Trňa
hostinská Božka
knihař Arnošt
Anděla, Zášinkova hospodyně
kaplan
Marie, Františkova dcera jako dítě
Marie, Františkova dcera jako dívka
malíř Frajz
obchodník Juchta
Peton, nový předseda národního výboru
řezník Rabona
sedlák Jindřich Kurfiřt
Kurfiřtova žena
příslušník VB
učitelka
farář
Véna, Kradákův kamarád
příslušník SNB s knírkem
tajný
tajný
tajný
hudebník
hudebník
hudebník-klarinetista
sedlák Šprk
saxofonista
ladič varhan
Emča
zapisovatel Peroutka
lékař
Fanoš
strýc Josef Vigoň
hostinský v Hrubé hospodě
sudička
Lampova milenka
sedlák Tyčka
sedlák
sedlák
sedlák
sedlák
sedlák
sedlák
sedlák
muž prodávající Lampovi dům
sousedka
sousedka
tanečník v maškarní masce
tanečník v maškarní masce
chlapci v maskách tří králů
sousedé
Jiří Rulík, Ivo Černý, Miloš Osvald
Miroslav Hájek, Jan Kučera (zkrácení)
Jaromír Komárek (fotograf)
Ruggiero Leoncavallo (Komedianti – opera), Fryderyk Chopin (Preludium Des dur Dešťové kapky)
FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)
Karel Vrtiška, Olga Ferebauerová
Song Composer Svatopluk Havelka
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Pěvecký sbor Dalibor SvitavySmíšený pěvecký sbor BystréDrahomíra HofmanováVlastimil BrodskýVáclav Babka
Song Composer Svatopluk Havelka
Writer of Lyrics Pavel Kopta
Singer Radoslav BrzobohatýWaldemar MatuškaVladimír Menšíksbor
Singer Pěvecký sbor Dalibor SvitavySmíšený pěvecký sbor BystréDrahomíra HofmanováVáclav Babka
Singer Václav Babka
Singer Drahomíra Hofmanová
Song Composer Josef Šustr
Writer of Lyrics Jindřich Tydrych
Singer Vladimír MenšíkLubomír Kostelka
Song Composer Jaroslav Křička
Writer of Lyrics Petr Křička
Singer Vladimír Menšík
Singer Waldemar Matuška
Singer Waldemar MatuškaRadoslav BrzobohatýHelena Růžičkovásbor
Singer Waldemar MatuškaRadoslav BrzobohatýHelena Růžičkovásbor
Singer Waldemar Matuška
Song Composer Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Singer Karel AugustaVáclav Babka
Singer bratři Kubáskové
Song Composer Václav Dobiáš
Song Composer Jan Seidel
Všichni dobří rodáci
Všichni dobří rodáci
All Good Countrymen
All My Good Countrymen
film
featuretheatrical distribution
historical, psychological, poetic
Czechoslovakia
1968
1968
literary Screenplay approved 3 May 1967
technical Screenplay approved 13 December 1967
start of filming 9 February 1968
end of filming 4 August 1968
projection approval 27 December 1968
the first film copy approved 27 December 1968
withdrawal from distribution 31 August 1971
withdrawal from distribution 31 August 1993
the end of the distribution monopoly 31 December 2013
gala premiere 24 April 1969 (kino Sevastopol, Praha)
preview 30 April 1969 (Bystré u Poličky)
premiere 8 May 1969 /suitable for youths/ (kina Sevastopol /9 týdnů/ a Kotva /4 týdny/, Praha)
premiere 4 July 1969 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 1 January 1990 /suitable for youths/
renewed premiere 1 August 2013 /unsuitable for children under 12/
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1969 a obnovená 1990), Asociace českých filmových klubů, o.s. (obnovená 2013 /Projekt 100 – 2013/)
Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Fikar, Ladislav Fikar (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
115 min
3 273 meters
16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, DVD
1:1,37
colour
sound
mono
Czech
Czech
without subtitles
Czech
Event: Anketa Českého rozhlasu – Kánon100 (nejoblíbenější umělecká díla posledních 100 let)
2018
Praha / Czech Republic
Event: Anketa filmových kritiků o nejlepší česko-slovenský hraný film století
1998
Praha / Czech Republic
Exhibition: 22. mezinárodní týden Verona
1991
Verona / Italy
Festival: 22. mezinárodní filmový festival Cannes
1969
Cannes / France
Vojtěch Jasný
Event: Ceny Trilobit 1968
1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Vojtěch Jasný
Event: Setkání s krátkým filmem v Ligně
1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 20. filmový festival pracujících – léto '69
1969
39 měst / Czechoslovakia
Event: Cena české filmové kritiky za rok 1968
1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Event: Ceny Trilobit 1968
1969
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Vladimír Menšík
Festival: 2. Finále Plzeň
1969
Plzeň / Czechoslovakia
Jaroslav Kučera
Festival: 7. filmový festival mladých Trutnov
1969
Trutnov / Czechoslovakia
Vladimír Menšík
Festival: 2. Finále Plzeň
1969
Plzeň / Czechoslovakia
Vojtěch Jasný
Festival: 20. filmový festival pracujících – léto '69
1969
39 měst / Czechoslovakia
Vladimír Menšík
Festival: 22. mezinárodní filmový festival Cannes
1969
Cannes / France
Jaroslav Kučera
Event: Umělecká soutěž k 50. výročí vzniku Československa a 70. výročí československé kinematografie o nejlepší scénář
1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Vojtěch Jasný