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Simply stated

A quiet Czech tragicomedy worth seeking out

By Steffen Silvis
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
December 19th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
It takes a village idiot. Ivan Trojan gives a fine performance in the film.
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Václav

Directed by Jiří Vejdělek
With Ivan Trojan, Emília Vašáryová, Jan Budař, Jiří Lábus, Zuzana Kronerová and Petra Špalková. With English subtitles at Slovanský dům

This past year has been a disappointing one for fans of Czech cinema. With the exception of Alice Nellis’ beautifully understated Tajnosti, with Iva Bittová’s warm, equally measured performance, there hasn’t been much to celebrate.
From Jiří Menzel’s diffuse I Served the King of England to Tomáš Vorel’s inept Gympl, there’s nothing to recommend to viewers from outside the confines of the Czech Republic (though the natives, it seems, were more than content with Jan Svěrák’s empty Vratné lahve, another cinematic floorshow for his father, whose gifts defy translation).
Yet at the ash end of this dismal year there’s some salvation from this situation with Jiří Vejdělek’s Václav, a quiet tragic-comedy furnished with some of the finest ensemble work since Štěstí and Kráska v nesnázích.
Václav (Ivan Trojan), the eponymous protagonist, is the local village idiot. He’s a high-functioning autistic man, who is sheltered and protected by his careworn mother (the superb Emília Vašáryová).
Václav Vingl, however, is hardly beloved by the townspeople. His pranks and accidents always tend to injure others or cost money to repair. Even his own brother, František Vingl (Jan Budař), has reached his limit of tolerance, and continually badgers their mother to have Václav sent off to a home in Brod (the town’s very name serves as a prod and threat to Václav).
His only other protector is the local mayor (Jiří Lábus), who seems to have ulterior motives masked by charity. The mayor obviously holds a torch for Václav’s mother, and may have played some role in the downfall and death of her husband (Martin Pechlát), a famed athlete in the ČSSR ‘70s, who appears to his son Václav within the waking dream of the autistic man’s life.
Though there has always been a strain between the brothers Vingl because of their mother’s favoritism towards Václav, the rift widens when František’s mistress, Lída (Soňa Norisová), begins to shower Václav with her own attention. This will lead to an act of violence that will affect the lives of everyone.
Director Vejdělek has had a busy two years, first with his screen version of Michal Viewegh’s U častníci zájezdu last year, and then Roming from this last fall (a film that I, perhaps, unfairly ignored, as the previews made the whole concept of a Czech comedy about Roma seem extremely dodgy, plus it looked like another serving of zabíjačka hijinks, the type of hog-slaughtering peasant comedy that has successfully retarded Czech cinema).
Aided by the excellent cinematography of Jakub Šimůnek (who has worked on most of the director’s films), Vejdělek has created an often moving slice of life drama, that bears some passing resemblance to What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? and the recent Canadian film Snow Cake.
Unfortunately, Václav’s conclusion is far too easy and mawkish, though the expert cast know to hold the reins on their emotions so that the whole thing doesn’t slide into utter bathos.
It is Vejdělek’s actors that make his film truly worth seeking out (especially as it’s playing with English subtitles at Slovanský  dům), particularly Trojan’s very fine performance as Václav.  
His approach to playing autism is much like Sigourney Weaver’s in Snow Cake — the only real physical manifestation of their “otherness” is confined to their eyes, which takes on a glassiness that deftly manages to convey inwardness rather than vacancy. One scene in particular, when Lída gives Václav a bath, shows Trojan at the height of his craft.
Vašáryová and Lábus are, as always, excellent, and Budař, too, playing against type, gives one of his best performances in ages. There are also some brief appearances by such fine actors as Zuzana Kronerová and Petra Špalková, who contribute much to  Vejdělek’s achievement.
Václav, like Nellis’ Tajnosti, is quiet in its accomplishments. It is this very simplicity that more of Czech cinema should strive for in the new year.

Steffen Silvis can be reached at ssilvis@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (19/12/2007):

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