The Rebels

Colour, 35mm
Czech Republic, 2001, 110 min
Section: Czech Films

Synopsis

This story of true love which was never meant to be is set in a small border town in 1968. On the dance floor of a typical dance party from the era we meet the school-leaver Tereza and her friends Bugyna, Julča and other pupils from the local secondary school. The band plays the biggest hits of the moment and couples start paring off… Tereza, who lives with her dad in a romantic pub by a lake outside the town, returns home on the local train supervised by the guard Douša (who plays a critical role in the story); she gets out at a station near the woods along with three strangely acting boys. Thus Šimon and Tereza, the main characters in the film, meet for the first time. Through them, Bugyna and Julča also befriend Bob and Eman, mates of Šimon. We witness a grand school-leaving party and subsequent dramatic events which reveal the true identity of the boys – military deserters seeking freedom beyond the frontiers of Socialist Czechoslovakia. The true nature of other characters are gradually unveiled and the whole story comes to a climax during a critical month of a critical year. This retro-musical set in the 1960s cleverly evokes the nostalgia and atmosphere of the time, by using the poetic appeal of the first Czech television clips, period costumes and the stylisation of certain studio scenes, excellent choreography and first-class performances.

About the director

Filip Renč (1965, Prague) began in film as a child actor. He also appears in smaller roles today (The Ride, Dark Blue World). He graduated in documentary filmmaking from Prague´s Film Academy (FAMU), 1991); he already began making a name for himself with several remarkable documentaries, such as Back of Beyond, Little Heart, Excitement, The Runner. He worked in television as a sought-after director of a series of successful advertising spots and video clips (Grammies for the clips Love Is Love, The Garden of Heavenly Delights, The Little Bear); here he also made a feature reconstruction of the events of 17 November 1989 Somewhat Cloudy (1999) or Room without Windows, one of eight parts from a cycle of crime thrillers entitled Black Angels (2001). He made his feature debut with the psychological drama Requiem for a Maiden (1992), which was followed by War of Colours (1995). Rebels is his third feature-length film. He has won a series of prestigious domestic awards, including a Czech Lion in 2001 for best costumes and sound, and the Silver Bullet at the 7th Moscow IFF Faces of Love. This year Renč directed the successful new Czech musical Cleopatra at the Broadway Theatre in Prague.