In the 1980s, there was an institution in Czechoslovakia that was seriously engaged in the research of paranormal phenomena. It was called the Psychoenergetic Laboratory and was led by the “Bolshevik wizard” Professor František Kahuda. Its existence inspired the creators of the new Czech TV series It will be resolved, comrades! In it, a pair of investigators (Jiří Macháček and Jan Cina) investigate crop circles in the field behind the local JZD, suffocating ventriloquists or mythical creatures from tramp stories. Breathing down their necks is the harsh Estebá thresher, comrade Snížková (Anna Fialová) and her good-natured sidekick Hora (Leoš Noha).
Sci-fi dog and cat cake
Directors Matěj Chlupáček and Michal Samir and screenwriters Miro Šifra, Lucie Vaňková and Marie Stará offer a comedy detective story in a co-production series, through which they mainly try to look at life in normalization with humor and perspective. They are helped with this by a retro touch embellished with distinctive color stylization, balancing on the edge of parody, but also sliding between science fiction, horror and fantasy.
Each of the episodes, the names of which refer to Czechoslovak film legends – the audience can expect, for example, How to strangle Master Šálk, Hoří, má babičko, The Ballad of Kozlopír or Lada Lazarová – offers a nod to another of the listed genres, which frees the authors’ hands in what kind of world on the screen they can create.
They do not give up their anchoring in reality, but instead of the depressing, often black-and-white depiction of life under the previous political regime, which we are used to in domestic period films and series, they are not afraid of a light-hearted approach. It’s refreshing, but will be problematic for a number of viewers; just as it was problematic with the controversially received series Volha from 2023, in which the director Jan Pachl placed a profiteer of the people in the center of the action instead of morally pure anti-regime resistance fighters.
The creators, admittedly and with the affection of the fans, collect the best from cult shows such as Arabela, Návštěvníci or Létájíčí Čestmír, as well as popular films such as How about having spinach?, “Lord, you are a widow!” or Tomorrow I will get up and scald myself with tea. But at the same time, they bring fresh ideas and have the courage to try something new, even if it ends up falling out of favor. The excellently chosen locations are also a big plus.
Czech films and series set in the second half of the 20th century often take place in indoor open-air museums surrounded by unsightly living room walls. The comrades operate in the fantastic workplace of the Institute of Paranormal Phenomena, but when they go out into the field, they hunt paranormally among the last remaining brutalist structures in our country that have not yet ended up disfigured by modern reconstructions or razed to the ground, or in places shrouded in folk legends. It creates something that at least looks honest.
However, the attractive visuals begin to serve purely as decoration after the first few minutes, and the plot moves forward only with the help of cumbersome, machine-like lines, which the main characters convulsively deliver. This shows the lack of self-confidence that ČT puts into its own creative work; as if the title was expected to run on TV screens only as a backdrop after a hard day. But there is also a visible pressure on comprehensibility for the widest possible target, which is almost never for the good of the cause.
And it certainly does not improve Jiří Macháček, for whom the role of the tired, cynical David Zajíce is his first series engagement. Fortunately, he is seconded by the most outstanding talents of the upcoming generation of actors: Jan Cina in the role of the naive idealist Vojta Bek needs room to get going, but Anna Fialová, who is increasingly being cast, deserves attention above all. She is noticeably improving with each subsequent role and right before the eyes of the current audience she is growing into an excellent actress who will one day be a joy to see in whatever she decides to work on. Even her performance is one of the motivations for giving all eight works a chance; one was presented to journalists.
Series: This will be explained, comrades! (2024)
Directed by: Matěj Chlupáček, Michal Samir
Screenplay: Miro Šifra, Lucie Vaňková, Marie Stará
Music: Ondřej Gregor Brzobohatý
Cast: Jiří Macháček, Jan Cina, Anna Fialová, Leoš Noha, Darija Pavlovičová, Lenka Termerová, Richard Stanke, Ján Jackuliak, Jana Plodková, Michal Kern, Tomáš Kobr
It is broadcast by ČT1, every Sunday from 20:10.
2024-03-04 13:20:34
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