The Burning Bush (2013)

The Burning Bush - a miniseries in three parts - is the English title of a Czech historical drama (based on a true story) about the Soviet invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia, focusing on the case of Jan Palach, a student of history, who set himself on fire in Prague in January 1969 in order to protest the Soviet invasion of his country five months earlier. Here is some basic information about this drama which premiered in 2013:

** Original Czech title: HOŘICÍ KEŘ

** Director: Agniezka Holland

** Writer: Stepan Hulik

** Producer: HBO Europe

** Soundtrack: option # 1 Czech; option # 2 Hungarian; option # 3 Polish

** Subtitles: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Hungarian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian

** Run time: 84 + 72 + 78 minutes = 234 minutes

** Bonus feature: two items = 31 minutes

** Total time: 265 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Tatiana Pauhofova as Dagmar Buresova (born 1929) – a lawyer

** Jan Budar as Radim Bures – a doctor – Dagmar’s husband

** Ivan Trojan as Major Jires – a police officer (a fictional character)

** Voitech Kotek as Ondrej Travnicek – a student activist (a composite character)

** Jaroslava Pokorna as Libuse Palachova – Jan Palach’s mother

** Petr Stach as Jiri Palach – Jan Palach’s brother

** Martin Huba as Wilem Novy (1904-1987) – a high-ranking member of the Communist Party

** Adrian Jastraban as Vladimir Charouz – Dagmar’s boss

** Jenovefa Bokova as Vladka Charouzova – Vladimir’s daughter

** Patrick Dergel as Pavel Janda – Dagmar’s assistant

** Emma Smetana as Hana Cizkova – an art student - Jan Palach’s friend or girlfriend

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore I feel free to mention some of them in this review.

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown in this drama, but the basic story is true.

When Wilem Novy, a high-ranking member of the Communist Party, slanders Jan Palach, his mother wants to sue him in court. She approaches the female lawyer Dagmar Buresova, asking her to take the case.

At first, Dagmar declines: trying to sue a member of the ruling class for defaming a young dissident seems to be a hopeless case. But after a while she changes her mind and decides to take the case.

In this drama we follow her preparations for the case as well as the case in the courtroom. Dagmar fights for justice, even though the odds are against her; and even though it may bring herself and her family in danger. In this way, the drama shows us the importance of Jan Palach and his case; his contribution to the struggle for human rights.

Here is some information about the director:

Agniezka Holland was born in Poland in 1948. After graduating from high school she moved to Czechoslovakia to study film and television in Prague. She was in Prague in 1968 where she witnessed the reforms in the beginning of the year (known as the Prague Spring) and the subsequent Soviet invasion in August.

In 1981, shortly before the imposition of martial law in Poland, she moved to France. For many years she was not allowed to return to the country where she was born.

As you can see, she has the perfect background to direct a historical drama about events in Czechoslovakia during the Soviet occupation. What do reviewers say about it? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

** 80 per cent = IMDb

** 83 per cent = Metacritic

** 95 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes

The ratings are quite good, quite high. I understand the positive reviews and I agree with them. The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The story is captivating, dramatic and often highly emotional. In addition, it is based on a true story.

I have only one complaint about this drama: there is a lot of smoking. Many characters smoke cigarettes; not only the bad guys, but also the good guys; and not only when they are outside in the open air, but also when they are inside an office or a private home. It is horrible. I do not like it, but perhaps it is realistic, given that this story is set in 1969 and in the Eastern Bloc where smoking was more common than in the West. Therefore I have decided to regard this issue as a minor flaw.

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. Jan Palach, who was born in 1948, is seen briefly in the beginning of the first episode. He sets himself on fire on 16 January 1969. He dies in a hospital three days later. After this we do not see him again. Because the drama is not about him; it is about what happened after his spectacular and controversial self-sacrifice.

PS # 2. In November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. The communist regimes of Eastern Europe fell one by one. In Czechoslovakia they had the Velvet revolution. In December 1989, Dagmar Buresova became minister of justice in the first post-communist government of her country. She held this post for six months. Wilem Novy did not live long enough to see this happen: he died in 1987.

PS # 3. The following (very positive) review of the drama is available online: Francine Prose, “Czech Winter,” New York Review of Books, 11 June 2014.

PS # 4. Milada is a historical and biographical drama about the Czech politician Milada Horakora, who was hanged by the Communist government in 1950 – after a show trial in which she and several others were falsely accused of conspiracy and treason. Unfortunately, all characters in this movie speak English, which is completely unrealistic. This drama premiered in 2017.

*****

 

Jan Palach (1948-1969)

*****