Perché?

I`m Scottish meaning I take exception to being classed as " British " where football is concerned . The Scots have a separate football association as do the Welsh and Northern Irish . Despite being part of the United Kingdom the Scots , Welsh and Northern Irish play as separate nations on the international football stage

I`m pointing this out because when English football fans go on the rampage English reporters often describe these hooligan scum as " British " . I`m sorry but they`re not British they`re English and I don`t want my nation`s name to be associated with " Britishness " down to a small minority of psychotic English thugs

All this brings me to the Czech movie PROC ? ( Translated into English it means WHY ? ) which deals with a bunch of hooligans who follow Sparta Prague. The story is told mainly in flash back and you could be forgiven for thinking these hooligans were guilty of mass murder but the more the story goes on the more it reveals that these hooligans are mostly guilty of letting off a fire extinguisher and breaking a few fixtures and fittings on a train . It`s quite shocking to think of this behaviour being treated so strictly by the authorities until you stop to consider that Czechoslavakia was still a communist country in those days where the rights of the many came before the rights of the few and deviant behaviour was not to be tolerated at any price

It is fairly well made and acted considering I can remember it from my sole viewing almost 15 years ago , but when this film was made English football and more especially its supporters were in the doghouse . 39 football supporters died at the European cup final at Brussels in 1985 when Liverpool fans rioted which led to English clubs being banned from international competition ( And to be honest club supporters of West Ham , Chelsea and Leeds united were even worse ) . It`s interesting to see the characters in this movie chant " POOL POOL LIVERPOOL " and " BRUSSELS " but compared to their English counter parts these guys are boy scouts

I remember seeing this film on Channel 4(part of the Red Triangle season) in the mid to late eighties. It's a shame that it doesn't appear to be available on VHS or DVD. It seemed shocking at the time as it happened in a Eastern Bloc country and because to many peoples mind the indiscipline that occurred in the film would not be tolerated in a Communist country. This incident happened just seventeen years after the uprising was crushed by the Soviet Union in 1968 and people in the western world would consider that to be the kind of response by the authorities to any kind of everyday hooliganism. It just goes to show that football fans are the same the world over. The film would probably seem quite tame now.

Proc? (in English "Why?") is based on a true story. Sparta Prague is a football team which is very known for fans. This movie is about their return from football match back home. They were returning by night train. They were young, drunk and aggressive. So they occupied the train, terrorized other passengers and finally demolished the train.

You may watch this as action movie or also as document, because action scenes are interrupted with fans' speeches to policemen and court.

Some scenes are very well shot (i.e. - boy and girl are making love in vandalized compartment, they are covered with Sparta's Club Flag while other people are sitting around and drinking).

But the main question (Why?) remains open, because nor policemen, nor the fans are able to explain why they became so aggressive and why the demolished train had to be demolished.

This very interesting docu-drama was based on a true incident in 1985, where fans of the Czechoslovakian side Sparta Prague ran amok on a train after a match. It was commissioned by the authorities in Czechoslovakia, but apparently spawned copycat behaviour in the period after it's release.

Though as Theo Roberstson in an earlier post calls the protagonists 'boy scouts' compared to the Liverpool fans at Heysel, one must realise that their behaviour was rightly deemed totally unacceptable in an authoritarian communist society. I myself have been on a train with a large number of drunk and loud fans of a certain London club, and even though nothing was broken and nobody was attacked, it was a terrifying experience for many of the passengers. 'Proc?' accurately captures the wild adrenaline fuelled excesses of the fans and the fear of the travellers. If like me, you've been stuck on a train with a bunch of hyped up football fans, this film will bring back bad memories.

Theo must also be reminded that though he claims hooliganism is an 'English' problem, he forgets that the Scots have a long history of crowd disorder, such as Glasgow Rangers rioting after their 1972 Cup-Winners Cup victory, and the infamous wrecking of Wembley pitch by Scottish fans in the 1970's. I feel that Theo has spent more time attacking the English than actually reviewing the film!.

'Proc?' does a far better job of looking at the problem of football hooliganism than movies such as Alan Clarke's 'The Firm' , as rather than concentrating on the violence between rival fans as Clarke does, Karel Smyczek focuses on the effect the fans behaviour has on the public. It's a pity this movie does not seem to be available on VHS or DVD.