JAN HŘEBEJK - A DIRECTOR ESPECIALLY POPULAR IN PILSEN REGION

Jan Hřebejk belongs among our most prolific and most successful film directors. He also has one "most": among his still working colleagues he has won the Pilsen Golden Kingfishers the most times. Three times exactly.

How do you think this is possible?

(Laughing) I am a director especially popular in Pilsen region! But seriously, such awards are always a matter of certain context. Pilsen Finále, as a competition of Czech films, has always been, let's say, a counterweight to Czech Lions. Some time ago in Pilsen, film Mňága Happy End beat Kolja, which competed in Czech Lions. In general: big ambitious films such as Želary or Protektor usually win smaller prizes at Finále, for example best actors awards.

Your films, which won Golden Kingfishers, were not ambitious?

We won the Golden Kingfisher for films Divided We Fall, Pupendo and Kawasaki's Rose. Except for Divided We Fall, these projects were not ambitious, in addition Pupendo and Divided We Fall had a preview at Finále, and so their success with the audiences or others could not be estimated. I do not want to speculate much about it; an award always depends on the jury, which always has its members and decides politically, which means that its decision is based on a consensus. So in Pilsen we were lucky three times.

Do you personally see Pilsen Finále as a certain counterweight to Czech Lions?

I do not perceive it this way. Czech Lions have a specific position - decisions are based on surveys, academics vote and do not consult or discuss it (even though there always is a kind of psychosis that it would be good to award something, some films have a better reputation, some worse). Generally speaking, in Czech Lions several tens of thousands people vote when they fill in forms at home. On the other hand in Pilsen, just like at other festivals, an international jury decides. This opposition might have been created in Pilsen or among some filmmakers who did not score much at Czech Lions.

What is Finále Pilsen to you?

A pleasant, homely festival. There are no bursts of huge ambitions here, which I like very much. When we were younger and did not have families, we went to Pilsen as a bunch of friends. Pupendo or Divided We Fall were brought here by a large part of our crew. I am sorry that nowadays we come here in smaller numbers. Finále is a contributing festival. It is a pity that the Elektra Cinema, where a significant part of the festival used to take place and where we all used to meet, has closed down.

Do you also catch up on the films you missed during the year?

I do. For example, at Finále I saw in the classical way, that is on a sixteen-millimetre copy and in a pub, a film of Petra Nikolaev It's Gonna Get Worse. That is, in my opinion, one of the most precious films of our recent past. And thanks to Finále I saw it in a great atmosphere. Or I saw the film Men in Rut at the festival in Pilsen. And that applies to other films as well. In addition to that, in Pilsen (but also in Karlovy Vary or Uherské Hradiště) you get to meet colleagues you enjoy talking to, which does not happen in Prague due to a lack of time.

Last year you spent a part of the closing party of Pilsen Finále in a heated debate with Jiří Krejčík...

Jiří Krejčík has been a legendary figure for fifty years or so. He has one great character trait: when he is not angry and actually even when he is, he has a great sense of humour. I like many of his films and I even consider some of his films to be milestones of Czech cinematography. For example Higher Principle. I also remember what it was like to watch The Divine Emma in the Bolshevik bleakness. I am pleased when I manage to catch Mr Krejčík in a state when he wants to joke. His humour is of course, let's say, mischievous. Despite that Jiří Krejčík is one of my most respected colleagues. I regard him as one of our best filmmakers, as one of those who helped to form the Czechoslovakian cinematography.

He even acted in your picture Cosy Dens...

For me it was incredibly important not only that he played in the film but also that he helped me, which really helped Cosy Dens as well. When he read one of the versions of the screenplay, he said: Look, do not go beyond 1968! The original script contained another fifteen or twenty minutes about what happened to the characters after the Soviet occupation. In the end we only kept an unobtrusive epilogue, which ends in the closing credits. I think it was a clever dramaturgical comment from Mr Krejčík. Not only because of the length of the film, but also the because of the overall impression of the film. If it was not for Krejčík, we might have spoiled the touching end and weakened our, mine and Petr Jarchovský's, speciality which is twenty possible ends to each of our films. And by the way - it is a pity that Jiří Krejčík has not done more acting in his life. He is a talented actor and plays with an ease, his minimalistic acting is very pleasant. Originally I wanted to cast Jiří Krejčík in film Kawasaki's Rose, for the role done by Mr Chudík. I even toyed with the idea that this important film threesome of elderly men should be played by these gentlemen: Jiří Krejčík, Mr Jiří Menzel and Jan Němec. In the end it turned out differently.

So in the end it was just the Cosy Dens...

Not long ago Cosy Dens were on television. As I was watching the film, I realised that four out of five replies, which Jiří Krejčík has in this film, he made up, adjusted or added himself... This always makes me feel very good. Not mentioning that some of the actors in Cosy Dens, started with Krejčík - for example Stella Zázvorková, Jiří Kodet andd Emília Vášáryová.
Finále also presents old and older films from archives, often some of their makers come, if they are still alive, that is another advantage of Finále...
Definitely, that is the advantage of festivals like Finále. It is great that even films that are not very current are also screened in various tributes or genre specialities. I enjoy them as well.

This year you are bringing to Pilsen your film Tomorrow There Will Be... , in fact a record of a theatre play.

That it as film that took many people's breath away - not with its film part, but due to the power of the recorded play, that is the opera about the process with Dr. Milada Horáková, composed by a composer and musicologist, and also the author of the music accompanying several of my films, Aleš Březina. It is an amazing work with open, communicative music. We are happy to be able to bring this picture to Finále.

What is happening with the film at present?

Aleš Březina is taking it quite successfully around the world. Not long ago it was in Brussels, now it is getting ready for going to the USA for several commented screenings. We have even done one theatre performance abroad, but taking out the whole thing is more complicated. Taking a DVD with you is easier. Furthermore, for the purpose of last year's October screening in the US, we had the performance translated. Zucker's translation is excellent, I think that Alex Zucker is the best translator from Czech into English, for that matter he received a prominent award in the US last year for his English translation of a book by Petra Hůlová called All This Belongs to Me.

Březina´s opera also had some interesting consequences...

You probably mean the fact that in the beginning there was cooperation between Aleš Březina and British director Robert Wilson. It truly is a remarkable piece of work.

As far as film awards are concerned film Tomorrow There Will Be ... was placed among documents, that is, I think, rather misleading.

It is a record of a theatre performance. Not a television one but a real film one. Someone might be surprised or even disturbed by occasional shots of Lenka Vlasáková and Jiří Menzel in the audience, people might ask what they are doing there. I can explain that. The audience is always in this mise-en-scene a part of the performance, they are constantly reflected in mirrors and they perform together with the actors. Originally we wanted to use a part of the opera in film Kawasaki's Rose. We eventually abandoned this idea, in addition Jiří Menzel turned the role down (which I say without bitterness, I am excited by the performance of Martin Huba). In the end Jiří Barák, editor but in this case a bigger director than me, composed the film of three performances. I would like to invite Pilsen audience to the screening. Even my sisters, at first very sceptical (it is a modern opera and about the process with Milada Horáková) were impressed! The performance is really amazing.

Some time ago you said it was one of your most important films!

As far as the theme is concerned. It is very strong. Its premier in Cinema Světozor, even though it was a modest premier, which did not have the pomp of our distribution premiers, was attended by one of the finest audiences I can imagine: Václav Havel, Meda Mládková, Robert Wilson and others. I do not want to judge the film, but it is my responsibility to say: opera Tomorrow There Will Be ... is worth watching, even in a film. Getting the theatre tickets is not easy at all; it is only played a couple of times a year in a small place. Anyways it is sensational!

Tomáš Pilát