Dark Blue World

Colour, 35mm
the Czech Republic, Germany, 2001, 115 min
Section: Czech Films

Synopsis

The film is set in 1950 and former elite RAF fighter-pilot and war hero, officer František Sláma, has joined the ranks of other enemies of the people locked away in Mírov prison. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939 he left with his younger colleague Karel Vojtíšek to fight against the Germans in the Royal Air Force. Despite the daily risk to their lives, the Czechoslovak pilots can’t wait to jump in their planes and go after the enemy. When they are finally given the go-ahead, some of them immediately become victims of enemy fire. During an attack on German bombers, Vojtíšek is shot down. He is presumed dead but he manages to bail out and comes across a remote house where he finds the English woman Susan. When he returns to the airfield the next day, he tells Sláma about his fateful encounter and his first experience of true love. Neither of them realises, however, that, after this, nothing will be the same again… “This story is, in fact, an intimate drama set against the background of a great historical event: the omnipresence of war and the knowledge that you could die at any time, intensify and accelerate all relationships”, says Jan Svěrák. Apart from being a story of friendship and love, the film also offers a grand spectacle with dramatic air battles requiring complex special effects. It pays its tribute to the courage of many Czech pilots betrayed by history, who returned home to a joyless future. These are war heroes whose deeds should not be forgotten by future generations.

About the director

Jan Svěrák (1965), the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák, studied documentary filmmaking at Prague´s Film Academy (FAMU) IN 1988. He was celebrated for his college films Space Odyssey II (1986) and the ecological mystification The Oil-Gobblers (1988, student Oscar). His feature debut was the gentle comedy Elementary School (1991), nominated for an Oscar, which was followed by the sci-fi Accumulator 1 (1994), the road movie The Ride (1994, Crystal Globe at the KV IFF 1995) and Kolya (1996, several Czech Lion awards, a Golden Globe for the best foreign film screened in the USA, an Oscar for best foreign film). The war drama Dark Blue World was awarded a Czech Lion in 2001 for best direction, camera, editing and music. Screenwriter and director Jan Svěrák has also made a number of advertising spots and music clips, he is the owner of the company Biograf Jan Svěrák and co-owner of Luxor productions.