Zelary

Zelary (2003), directed by Ondrej Trojan, is an variation on the theme of a person thrown into an environment for which he or she is not prepared. In this case, the protagonist Eliska (Anna Geislerová) is a beautiful, sophisticated nurse in Prague during the German occupation. Forced to escape from Prague, Eliska finds herself in a remote Czech farming village.

In this setting, her urban knowledge and social skills are inadequate for survival. Predictably, her basic intelligence and her nursing experience do, indeed prove useful. However, without help from the people in the community, she can't possibly survive. Whether her abilities--and the assistance of the villagers--will prove adequate to ensure survival is the question around which the plot revolves.

The weakness of the film is that Eliska's transition into her role as the wife of a farmer is far from adequate. Anna Geislerová is so refined and elegant that it would have taken more than two long braids to fool the Germans (or anyone else).

Still, the concept is interesting, and the film does well in conveying the complexities and difficulties that confront a stranger in an apparently tranquil rural community.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I thought it was not only well-written but quite visually interesting. I found the character of Hana particularly endearing. In fact, I wrote about her in an essay I'm doing on the idea of 'home' in literature and some film: Zelary was mentioned before as having thematic elements involving a physical home. However, this film takes a slightly different approach to the aspects of home. Whereas one normally would define home for his or herself, then make some sort of journey to find it; Hana is forced to do things oppositely in Zelary. Because turmoil physically forces her out of the place she had come to call home, she must redefine home for herself in order to make her current setting her new home. She succeeds in this through accepting the rural lifestyle and falling in love with her new husband, and she even manages to go back to her old home once again. This reversal of the task of defining home is what creates the central conflict in the film, and Hana's flexibility in making home a solid place is what makes her a strong protagonist.

This magnificent film arrives way too late after it was nominated for the best foreign movie of 2003! Important European movies don't have the great market they should have in America, even though, this picture is better than some of the local fare. Director Ondrej Trojan must be congratulated for what he has done with this movie.

The story begins in 1943, at the time where Europe was going through one of the worst moments of WWII. The Germans are everywhere and the Gestapo is the instrument to eliminate the people that are working in the resistance. When the young medical student and nurse, Eliska, is found to be in danger, she is send to the country with one of the patients she has been taking care at the hospital. Thus begins the saga of a woman who must hide, or face jail, or probably death.

The movie then changes to a pastoral setting when Joza, the peasant who has been kind enough to take Eliska to his farm, agrees to marry her in conspiracy with the local priest and the school teacher. That part of the country is catholic and backward. There is a hypocrisy in the way this teacher and priest keep a closed eye about what the local peasantry are doing. On the one hand, the peasants appear to be God loving citizens, but they live lives dominated by alcohol, rape, incest, and other evil practices. No one questions anything.

Joza enters in the marriage out of gratitude toward the nurse that helped him heal his wounds. Then, steadily, he falls in love with a woman who is completely different from him. In turn, Hana, as she is now named, starts seeing in Joza qualities she has taken for granted. Their love is genuine.

The two principals, Anne Geislerova and Gyorgi Cserhalmi are wonderful in that make us believe they are these two people that get to know and love one another under the worst possible circumstances.

The countryside where the film was filmed is so beautiful that it makes one wonder how could war have been waged in such surroundings. The magnificent cinematography of the picture takes us back to those sad years of the war, and what that country endured as a Soviet satellite nation.

An excellent movie with a beautiful, complex setting. I would call it a classic tragedy, though the only possible flaw of the tragic hero Joza is his selflessness in helping others. It is great to see a movie involving WWII that is not just a war movie and is from a fresh perspective, rather than from one of the major players in the War. The scenery is beautifully natural and the characters will move you to sympathize with them. While it does not have a picture-perfect happy ending, I was encouraged by the redemption and heroism of the young boy Lipka. There are several miscommunications and accidents throughout the movie that support its realism. I will definitely read the novel Jozova Hanule now, on which the movie is based.

For those who are fans of foreign films, this is a must. The scenery alone is enough reason to watch this movie. This was cast very well. The two main characters were outstanding as well as the children actors. The little girl reminds me of Natalie Wood when she was in Miracle on 34th street. The journey of the film takes one through every emotion in the book. Though it is slower paced, it allows one to reflect and bond with the characters. It's not a relaxing film as there is this underlying tension caused by the uncertainty of a country torn by war. Overall, an excellent film. Bravo to the director and all the crew! Outstanding job. I look forward to many more great films out of Czechoslovakia.

Kerry Johnson