Jan Palach is a Czech biographical film directed by Robert Sedláček. The film follows Jan Palach during 1968 and 1969 and shows the final 6 months of his life. The film premiered at Uherské Hradiště Summer Film School.
Contents
Plot
The film chronicles the life of Jan Palach from childhood until his death in 1969.
The film starts during Palach's childhood. He gets lost in the woods and wanders in snow while his family tries to find him. The film then cuts to 1967 when Palach goes on a student work trip to Kazakhstan. He befriends a young Russian who gets in trouble, but Palach stands up for him against his superior. The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia start when Palach his with his family in Všetaty. He goes to Prague where he participate in street demonstrations. Palach then visits France and learn about the self-immolation of Ryszard Siwiec. Palach returns to Czechoslovakia. He participates in a strike against the invasion and tries to be active. He is soon disappointed with the passiveness of society. He eventually decides to self-immolate himself against the invasion. The film ends with a shot of his burnt face.
Cast
Viktor Zavadil as Jan Palach
Zuzana Bydžovská as Libuše Palachová
Denisa Barešová as Helenka
Kristína Kanátová as Eva
Michal Balcar as Jiří Palach
Karel Jirák as Ladislav Žižka
Jan Vondráček as Professor
Jiří Zapletal as Josef Smrkovský
Daniel Želatý as Jakub Schwarz Trojan
Gérard Robert Gratadour
Simone Hrášková
Patrik Paušo
Production
The film was shot in Prague, Milovice, or Pardubice Square which was used instead of Wenceslas Square. Filmmakers created a scale model of Statue of Saint Wenceslas. Self-immolation was shot with a stuntman at Střešovice. Scenes from a church were shot at Evangelical Church at Libiš that was attended by Palach. Jakub Schwarz Trojan was played by his colleague Daniel Želatý.
Release
The film premiered at Uherské Hradiště Summer Film School on 5 August 2018. It was distributed for cinemas on 21 August 2018. The film was projected in 95 Czech cinemas during the first week after its release. It was attended by 13,129 people and grossed 1,900,000 CZK.
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from Czech critics. It holds 75% at Kinobox.cz. The film was awarded for 6 Czech Film Critics' Awards.