Karel Zeman's "Journey to the Beginning of Time"

For the source posting of this story, please visit: https://www.midnightonly.com/2014/05/30/journey-to-the-beginning-of-time-1955/

Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955)

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Jeff Kuykendall

“My friends and I, we just had the best holiday ever!” begins Journey to the Beginning of Time (Cesta do pravěku, 1955), the startling and wonderful live-action fantasy film from Czech animator Karel Zeman. Zeman, who would go on to direct The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (Vynález zkázy, 1958), The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (Baron Prášil, 1961), and On the Comet (Na kometě, 1970), among others, possessed a completely distinct and charming style: committed to reproducing the quality of classic fantasy and children’s book illustrations, and applying a cornucopia of special effects techniques, trick photography, and stop-motion animation. For Journey to the Beginning of Time, he sought to recreate the illustrations of Zdeněk Burian, an influential Czech artist who brought to life the prehistoric past. Though most of Zeman’s films do not strive for realism – and often embrace their artificiality – this film would make a concerted effort to educate the young audience for which it was intended. He applies a loose but somewhat lyrical framework for his story: four schoolboys – Pete, who narrates and keeps a logbook; Jack; Tony, who’s always taking pictures; and young Georgie – pass through a “magic cave” to begin a journey through five hundred million years of the past. All this because Georgie, who has found a fossil of a trilobite, wants to see one in the flesh. Pete shows us a map of geologic periods at the beginning of the film, their travel itinerary arranged in the shape of a descending staircase: they will pass through the Ice Age, the Tertiary, the Mesozoic, the Paleozoic, and finally the Silurian so Georgie can hold a real trilobite in his hand. This is a fantasy in which you can simply hop in a boat and row downstream, and all of prehistory will pass before your eyes: a precursor to Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s “Ship of the Imagination” in Cosmos. Our narrator states that they took inspiration for their voyage by reading Journey to the Center of the Earth, linking this film to Zeman’s Jules Verne adaptations to come.

Pete, Jack, and Tony search for a lost companion in the Paleozoic era.

To bring the past to life, Zeman filmed on location (in Czechoslovakia and East Germany) and in the studio (including building a water tank with a painted backdrop to form the swampy Paleozoic). The dinosaurs come in all varieties: stop-motion models, two-dimensional animated cut-outs, and both miniature and full-scale puppets. Contrasted with Ray Harryhausen’s laborious, painstaking stop-motion artistry, Zeman’s work feels like a man throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the screen, as fast as he can. His stop-motion may not be as convincing as Harryhausen’s – his models, in particular, lack a sense of weight and scale, and tend to look like the miniatures they are – but the constant stream of imaginative techniques is never less than delightful. For a brontosaurus standing on a riverbank and craning its long neck at the boys, Zeman built a two-dimensional dinosaur body with a three-dimensional neck, only animating the neck. Unless you are studying it very closely, you’re unlikely to figure this out. But he gives us many fully-animated creatures as well, including dive-bombing Pteranodons, a bloody Stegosaurus/Tyrannosaurus Rex battle, a Styracosaurus, and a Phorusrhacos (predating the famous one in Harryhausen’s Mysterious Island), who charges at little Georgie in one sequence that might have frightened its young audience. But the primary purpose is always gently educating: when they encounter a Uintatherium and Georgie scoffs at the hard-to-pronounce name, Pete patiently explains that scientific names derive from Latin and Greek “so they can be understood around the world…I mean, it wouldn’t sound good if it was called ‘bumpyhead’ or ‘bubblenose.'”

A brontosaurus observes the time-traveling boys.

The time travel story circumvents the usual problem of these sorts of films, which is showing humans interacting with dinosaurs anachronistically (a la One Million Years B.C.). And having the boys travel downstream (beginning in a half-frozen-over river to represent the Ice Age), moving in a linear path backward through time, creates the effect of an eighty-minute 50’s-era Disneyland ride, something that might have originated at a World’s Fair and been transported wholesale into the Magic Kingdom. It also has the feel, at times, of one of Disney’s nature documentaries, though essentially this is a Boy’s Life adventure with dinosaurs, woolly mammoths and rhinos, and other prehistoric creatures. (And it’s no white-hunter adventure story. When one boy suggests they hunt one of the animals, Pete points out it’s a good thing they don’t have a rifle, because they should be studying them instead. This is a scientific expedition.)  But the ending has a surprisingly poetic touch, merging the metaphorical with the physical and tactile, as Zeman perches his travelers on the edge of the Silurian sea. Georgie, who’s never seen the ocean, scoops the water into his palms and tastes it, then spits it out: salty. Then he finds what he’s been searching for, and at last holds his fossilized trilobite in one hand and a real trilobite in the other, twisting time into a loop. Pete, standing amidst the waves crashing into the shore, points out at the horizon, and says that the beginning of time lies just yonder. They decide it’s time to return, but the viewer has no doubt that if the boys really wanted to, they’d build a sturdier boat and keep rowing backward, backward, backward…to the Big Bang and perhaps beyond.

This entry was posted in Theater Midnight Matinee and tagged 50's, Czech, dinosaurs, Fantasy, Karel Zeman, prehistoric. Bookmark the permalink.

https://www.spoilerfreemoviesleuth.com/2019/12/SecondRunJourneyToTheBeginningOfTimeReviewed.html

Madeleine Albright

I am fortunate to have attended a gala with my mother at the Rudofinum in Prague where Madeleine Albright was the keynote speaker. It was the prelude to the next day’s unveiling of the Woodrow Wilson statue at the train station in Prague. The American Friends of the Czech Republic led the way for this project. Václav Havel spoke at the unveiling. Soon afterward, President Havel died. I didn’t get to shake her hand; I was photographing my mom speaking to her.

At the gala, she spoke about her pins and her new book. A few years ago, I took my daughter to see all of those pins at the exhibit in Austin. I have read several of her books and found valuable information in each. Sometimes a person is put into one’s life unexpectedly and then repeatedly a few times more. I think these are not to be ignored.

I am grateful.

Martina Kubišová: Sweetheart and Heroine

A Prayer of Marta

Let peace remain with this country!

 Let hatred, envy, grudge, fear

and strife cease! Let them cease!

Now, when your lost sovereignty is returning to you,

finally returning to you. 

The cloud drifts slowly away from the sky

and everybody reaps what he has sown.

Let my prayer speak

to hearts not burnt by the time of wrath,

like flowers by frost, like frost.

Let peace remain with this country!

 Let hatred, envy, grudge, fear, and strife cease!

Let them cease!

Now when your lost sovereignty is returning to you,

people, finally returning to you.

 Today, Marta Kubišová is considered a Czech national heroine. She had already found a place in the hearts of Czechs when she was in her twenties, as a famous singer and television star. In 1977, the communist party arrested the rock band Plastic People of Universe. A small group of dissidents, including Vaclav Havel, met secretly to draw up a written demand for the government to respect human rights. Marta Kubišová was there the whole time, working with Havel on the document as well. They called it Charter 77 and then they signed their names to it.

This one signature meant the effective end of her career at the time. The communist party put out false stories and faked photographs to ruin her reputation. She lost her job in television and no one would hire her to act or sing.

But in November of 1989, when Czechs and Slovaks gathered in Wenceslas Square in Prague to protest the communist regime, Vaclav Havel asked her to stand with him on a balcony overlooking the crowds and bring back her signature song, A Prayer of Marta. She had originally performed the song as a character in a film, but it became popular as a single and she was asked to sing it at all her concerts. Now she was welcomed back at one of the most pivotal moments in Czech history. If it had not gone well, if the revolution had not succeeded, she probably would have been punished even more. It was a very brave act to sing on the balcony in November of 1989.

The interesting thing is that those lyrics were meaningful to the situation at hand.

Let hatred, envy, grudge, fear, and strife cease!

Let them cease!

Now when your lost sovereignty is returning to you,

people, finally returning to you.

Ever since that day, this song is considered the anthem of the Velvet Revolution.

And Marta Kubišová grew to be not only the sweetheart of the Czechs, but also a national heroine.

In the video below, Marta sings the anthem of the Velvet Revolution in English.

In 2019, Czechs react to this moving performance of “A Prayer for Marta,” the anthem of the Velvet Revolution and signature song of Marta Kubišová.

November 17, 1989 Modlitba (A Prayer)

When I saw this poem (below in English & Czech) on the Tres Bohemes website, I wrote to ask permission to use it on our website CzechHeritageMuseum.org.

What I got back was an email from the poem's Czech author, Professor Josef Tomas. He gave me permission with the stipulation that I include this comment:

"Surely you can publish my MODLITBA and with the following comment:

I believe this date should be remembered.

While Czechs will celebrate the fall of Communism, many brainwashed Americans want IT to take over their country.

In Czechoslovakia, it was enforced by the help of stalinist USSR, yet in the USA - it is self-destruction.

Publish it (the poem) as a warning.

And please, distribute as much as possible.”

J.T.

From Tres Bohemes: "The work illustrates the dark background of socialism, the arrest of his comrades and the persecution by the StB and the then regime, persecution that Professor Tomáš experienced first-hand. “One day in August, I went to my scout friend Jirka. I rang the bell at the gate of the house, when his mother appeared in the window, waving desperately, asking me to walk away. Later, I found out how lucky I was, because at that moment, StB was in the house arresting Jirka. I didn’t see him until two years later on two visits, as I am describing in the poem. And five years later, when he received clemency from President Novotny. He then spent some time in a sanatorium in the Highlands, because he had a lung breakdown. Then followed 21 years of separations, when I emigrated. After 1989, I met him several times. He worked as a labourer and was eventually murdered,” says Professor Josef Tomáš.

Modlitba (A Prayer)

by Josef Tomáš

Yes – blessed art thou among lands! –

And yet – alone – of your free will –

never would you have managed

to free yourself from the iron grip

of that all-consuming evil,

because we, your fruit, your people,

have only ever been half-blessed…

Like the wick of an oil lamp, at one end

– soaked through with the fear of extinction –

we are heavy, thick and reeking,

and on the other? – there, only rarely,

we burn with an exquisite light,

our unexpected ignition

surprises us most of all!

What are we anyway? –

Whether light or heavy, always shallow

In our feet and heads rarely at home

Forever flitting between two poles

Often sinking into deep stupor

Not finding anywhere a fourth dimension…

You, our country,

so many times devastated,

more than half depopulated,

starved of your own speech …

How do you muster that miracle power

that lifts you out of humiliation?

Now at last you can stop your wailing,

you, with your heads filled with gloom.

Were we not promised

that a few righteous ones would suffice

to save the whole universe?

– and we just one small country!

You, room, flooded with white light

They are praying, they are singing

Mostly simply existing

But turning their gaze in quite different directions

To the usual ways of writing and speaking

Oh you, a time which let women until recently Christian

march in the streets of Czech cities, only now with red scarves,

and let unwashed workers play at soldiers,

and bought the peasants for thirty pieces of silver,

and out of loudspeakers declared several grave sins

– envy, hatred, pride – to be the highest virtues;

and then, a few years later, I saw marching at Wilson Station

the evicted farmer, now convict-soldier František Šeda,

rifle-less, black epaulettes and bloody calluses,

and saw how the borderline of the Russian occupation

ran through a hastily-built barracks at Dolní Žďár,

halfway between Ostrov nad Ohří and Jáchymov,

(imagine, a piece of my homeland, on which I was strictly forbidden

to step, and when I did so anyway, just for a few meters,

a miserable Czech informant immediately made sure

that I was led under Czech submachine gun to the police station

and investigated there for many long hours – by a Czech!),

and from that forbidden side, from uranium Equality and Unity

and uranium Brotherhood, Czech convicts were brought

to the barracks for visits, among them my twenty-year-old friend

Jirka Mráz, sentenced to fifteen years in the mines,

riding in pickups in the biting frost of January,

in closed buses in the stifling summer –

expert architects of such a vicious pigsty,

those halfwit Czech-Communist screws –

I am a witness to it all, I went there twice,

in the same year that in the Marxist library

I felt evil’s hypnotic presence – the protoplasm of evil – on my skin:

it stared at me from the monstrous grey

of the Marxist-Leninist pseudo-teaching manuals…       

Perhaps because of all that, and much more,

I, still young, knew where evil dwelled;

where and how it entered unguarded Czech heads,

and then, with their help, flooded the hundred-towered city –

Towers of empty temples – hands unfolded

Windows of crumbling houses – living emptied

Hands of abortion doctors – lives annihilated

Eyes of frightened parents – respect eradicated

Words of corrupt teachers – young minds violated

Speeches of treacherous leaders – crimes uncastigated

and finally the whole Czech land –

Ploughed meadows – you, the dead beetles

Shrivelled fields – you, the dead soil

Poisoned forests – you, the dead birds

Polluted rivers – you, the dead fish

Crumbling barns – you, the dead cattle

Deafened dwellings – you, the dead love

So tell me, how did you manage to free yourself

from that host of omnivorous evils? –

Where did that other power come from,

at first betrayed by us and soon after suppressed by Him –

that power of good? – Those few students perhaps? –

Those few, just briefly righteous,

but cynical once again soon after? …

Oh no, no! That power must be from somewhere else!

Only their mothers’ love could it have been –

or, more likely, their mothers’ fear:

“They beat our children! They beat our children!” …

But in fact, it was you,

you, the Earth, our Earth!

You who are incarnate in mothers! –

Yes, none but you,

you good, great, mighty Earth!

Was not your colour always

the colour of all great mothers:

the mothers of Krishna, of Buddha, of Christ?

You, blue-white, embodied in all mothers!

We had to fly as far as the Moon,

to finally see you as you are:

Blue-white hovering

In unimaginable loneliness

Through the ultra-black emptiness

Of the boundless universe

Now we finally understand those emotionalists,

to whom you have appeared since time immemorial;

always as a celestial queen,

always above your fountain of water,

and with your wall of rock behind you…

Like a blue-white celestial queen –

Tower of ivory,

House of gold,

Ark of the Covenant,

Gate of Heaven,

with tears in your eyes warning of destruction,

urging us to repentance, to redemption!

Oh, stay with us! Don't leave us!

– ora pro nobis peccatoribus et nunc et in hora mortis nostris

And they continue to pray…

In a room flooded with white light…

Turning their gaze in a quite different direction…

OM MANI PADME HUM

MODLITBA

Josef Tomáš.

Vskutku — požehnaná jsi mezi zeměmi! —

Přesto však — sama — ze své vůle jen —

bys nebyla nikdy dokázala

vyprostit se z ocelového sevření

onoho všezachvacujícího zla,

protože my, tvůj plod, tvoji lidé,

jsme odjakživa sotva napůl požehnaní …

Jako knot lampy jsme: na jedné straně

— nasáklí strachem z nepřežití —

jsme těžcí, hustí, páchnoucí,

a na té druhé? — tam jenom zřídka kdy

zazáříme intenzivním světlem,

sami pak nejvíc překvapeni

tím nečekaně náhlým vzplanutím!

Co jsme to vlastně? —

Ať lehcí či těžcí vždy jen dvojrozměrní

V nohách i v hlavě málokdy přítomní

Mezi dvěma póly věčně kmitající

V hloubku otupění často upadající

Čtvrtý rozměr světa stále nenacházející …

Ty naše země!

Tolikrát už jsi byla zpustošená,

více než zpola vylidněná,

své vlastní řeči pozbavená …

Odkud bereš onu zázračnou sílu

na pozvednutí se ze svých ponížení?! …

Přestaňte konečně naříkat,

vy věčně zachmuření!

Nebylo nám snad přislíbeno,

že pár spravedlivých postačí

k záchraně celého vesmíru?

— natož pak jedné malé země!

Pokoji bílým světlem zalitý!

Oni se modlí oni zpívají

Oni většinu času jen tak prostě jsou

Ale docela jiným směrem zahleděni

Než jak se píše nebo mluví nahlas

Ó ty dobo, kterás dovolila ženám ještě nedávno křesťanským

pochodovat ulicemi českých měst, teď však s rudými šátky,

a povolilas nemytým dělníkům,

aby si hráli na vojáky ve zbrani,

a katolické rolníky sis koupila za třicet stříbrných panských polí,

a z ampliónů jsi prohlásila několik hlavních hříchů

— závist, nenávist, pýchu — za nejvyšší ctnosti,

a kdy o pár let později jsem zahlédl u Wilsonova nádraží

pochodovat vojína Františka Šedu beze zbraně,

zato ale s černými výložkami a krvavými mozoly,

a viděl jsem též, jak narychlo sbitým barákem v Dolním Žďáru,

napůl cesty mezi Ostrovem nad Ohří a Jáchymovem,

procházela hraniční čára Rusáky zabraného území

(představ si to, kus mé vlasti, a já měl přísně zakázáno

tam nohou vkročit, a když jsem to na pár metrech ignoroval,

malý český člověk-udavač se ihned udýchaně postaral o to,

abych byl odveden pod českým samopalem na strážnici

a několik dlouhých hodin tam byl vyšetřován — Čechem!),

a z té zakázané strany do toho baráku sváželi k návštěvě

z uranové Rovnosti a Svornosti, a z uranového Bratrství,

české trestance-mukly, a mezi nimi mého dvacetiletého

na patnáct let odsouzeného kamaráda Jirku Mráze,

a to za třeskutě mrazivého ledna na otevřeném náklaďáku

a v dusném horkém létě v uzavřeném autobuse —

na to měli, na takovou zlomyslnou sviňárnu,

ty vymiškované mozky komunisticko-českých bachařů —

já jsem toho svědek, já tam dvakrát byl,

a to bylo ve stejném roce, kdy jsem v ulici Celetné

fyzicky pocítil hypnotickou přítomnost zla — protoplazmu zla:

uhrančivě na mě zírala ze zrůdně šedivé barvy

příruček marxisticko-leninského pseudo-učení …

Pro toto všechno snad, a ještě pro mnohem mnohem víc,

jsem už za mlada dokázal rozpoznat, kde zlo přebývá,

a kudy a jak vstupuje do strachem připravených českých hlav,

aby pak s jejich pomocí zaplavilo nejprve stověžaté město —

Věže prázdných chrámů — ruce nesepjaté

Okna zanedbaných domů — žití prázdné

Ruce potratných lékařů — životy zabité

Oči ustrašených rodičů — úcto uprchlá

Slova prodejných učitelů — mysli znásilněná

Projevy zrádných vůdců — činy zločinné a z něho nakonec i celou českou zem —

Louky zaorané — vy broučci mrtví

Pole poprášená — ty půdo mrtvá

Lesy otrávené — vy ptáčci mrtví

Řeky znečištěné — vy ryby mrtvé

Chlévy zanedbané — vy dobytčata mrtvá

Obydlí ohlušená — ty lásko mrtvá

Prozraď mi tedy,jak ses dokázala osvobodit

od tolikerého všezničujícího zla? —

Odkud se v tobě vzala ta druhá síla,

ta nejprve námi zrazená a brzy nato jím potlačená

síla dobra? — že by těch několik studentů? —

Těch pár, jen na krátký čas spravedlivých,

zanedlouho však opět malověrně cynických? …

Ó ne, ne! Ta síla musela přijít zcela odjinud!

Jedině láska jejich matek to mohla být —

anebo, ještě spíše, ta obava matek:

„Bijí naše děti! Bijí naše děti!“…

Ale to jsi potom byla vlastně ty,

ty Země, naše Země!

Ty, která se přece ztělesňuješ v matkách! —

Ano, nic jiného nežli ty,

ty dobrá, veliká, mohutná Země!

Tvá barva byla přece

barvou všech velkých matek:

matky Kršny, matky Buddhy, matky Krista.

Ty modrobílá, vtělená do všech matek!

Museli jsme odletět až na měsíc,

abychom tě konečně mohli takto spatřit:

Vznášení modrobílé

V osamělosti nepředstavitelné

Prázdnotou černočernou

Vesmíru neohraničeného

Nyní konečně rozumíme těm několika citlivcům,

kterým ses tady už odedávna zjevovala;

a pokaždé jako nebeská královna,

a vždy nad pramenem své vody,

a se stěnou své skály za sebou …

Jako modrobílá nebeská královna —

Věži ze slonové kosti

Archo úmluvy

Bráno nebeská

Dome zlatý —

se slzami v očích varující nás před zkázou,

nabádající nás k pokání, k polepšení!

Ó zůstaň s námi! Neopouštěj nás! —

ora pro nobis pecatoribus et nunc et in hora mortis nostris

A oni se nadále modlí …

V pokoji zalitém bílým světlem …

Docela jiným směrem zahledění …

OM MANI PADME HUM

Czech Films Night & Matinee to Resume in 2021

After a year on pause, we are ready to hit the play button again! Zachariah Baker, owner of the historic Beltonian Theatre has set dates for us for all of 2021. It will again be held on the second Tuesdays of the month all year, except for February, when it will be the first Tuesday.

We have some wonderful Czech films - old and new - lined up, thanks to some friends of the Czech Heritage Museum, including Michaela Tichackova. Michaela went home to see her family in Moravia and brought back Czech films for us to show!

Notice: In February, this event will take place on the first Tuesday of the month.

CHM Taroks Players Christmas Party

The Czech Heritage Museum Taroks Players held their annual Christmas party on Tuesday, December 18 at the Museum.

Every first and third Tuesday night, anywhere from eight to 20 Taroks lovers fill our Svacina room with tables of four. Taroks (Taroky in Czech) is a European card game similar to bridge or spades and a favorite of Texas Czechs for generations.

This congenial group welcomes newcomers to the game and we gained some new regulars this year. Jimmy and Carolyn Coufal are expert coaches and their love for the game is infectuous! We celebrate birthdays with potlucks and cake throughout the year, but the last game night in December is extra-special with a nice Christmas dinner. This year Jimmy set up a tournament with prizes!

New Art Installation: Presidential Portrait

Artist Lisa Chase with her painting, Visionaries of Freedom at the Czech Heritage Museum in Temple, Texas.

Visionaries of Freedom

Artist: Lisa Chase

Oil on canvas

40 x 60 inches

We recently unveiled a new painting at the Czech Heritage Museum. Local artist Lisa Chase painted the 40x60-inch oil on canvas as a gift to the Museum. The painting honors two historic Czech figures, Tomás Masaryk, first president of Czechoslovakia and Václav Havel, first president of independent Czechoslovakia after communism and first president of the Czech Republic.

It has been very touching to see the reactions of visitors from the Czech Republic. More than once I have seen tears.

We are very grateful for this exquisite gift from Lisa Chase. Her skill and talent for painting portraits is rare. The painting provides a fitting symbol of the timeless hope of freedom. It threads the story of the early Czech immigrants to Texas through historical eras and peoples around the globe and back home again. It is a beautiful centerpiece for our Museum.

Artist Statement

I am a lifelong self-taught artist. I have spent the majority of my work in portraits and was very pleased to be able to provide this portrait of Masaryk and Havel for my friends here at the Czech Heritage Museum.

 I was brought up with a strong sense of pride in our nation, and taught appreciation for the prices paid for our freedoms. We as Americans have never had to suffer the loss of them, as did the homelands of these freedom fighters here.

 America is now being seduced by the siren call of socialism, and hit on virtually every front to buy into it through promises of equality and utopia. Our liberties that over time have been undermined and slowly chiseled down are now being blatantly and aggressively attacked with the speed of a river headed toward a waterfall. To the people who know the history of oppression through communism and socialism, these are very very loud warning bells of the last steps into enslavement.

 My appreciation for the courage of these two men who stepped in to the battle against these odds for the love of their country is personal, and it was a complete privilege to be able to have the opportunity to honor them with this portrait.

Christmas Open House 2018

Annie Vahalik’s beautiful Czech “Merry Christmas” cookies delighted visitors at the Czech Heritage Museum’s Open House

Once again, we had a wonderful time at our annual Christmas Parade Night Open House! Per CHM tradition, Ralph Milek brought his accordion music. Ralph’s special touch always makes his accordion sound sweet and comforting. We sang the old Czech songs from our childhood, even if some of us could only hum along. :-)

The Taylor Czech Chorus came with their band and great energy and enthusiasm to help us kick off the Christmas season with Czech Christmas carols.

SPJST State Fraternal Director Frank Horek brought the SPJST Royalty by the Museum after their appearance in the City of Temple Christmas Parade. These beautiful young people earned their titles at the SPJST youth competitions held statewide every year.

Special thanks to Directors Nancy Wiess and Roxy Bertrand. Each year, they bake homemade cookies for weeks before the event. Every year, the entire Board contributes and lends a hand. Board President Jerry Milan and his wife, Henrietta bring lots of food and help with preparations. Philip Vahalik always brings delicious, beautifully-decorated cookies made by his wife, Annie at her bakery in Victoria. Jesse Pospisil brings delicious smoked sausages from Taylor. Of course, we had to have freshly-baked kolaches! These were provided by Czech Honorary Consul Brian Vanicek.

Roxy’s sister, Wendy Pruski also baked up scores of cookies ahead of time and helped decorate, too! Roxy always brings her crew from Floresville. In past years, her faithful friend Janie Mutz has come to lend a hand at setting every thing up. They swoop in with a plan and get right to work!

Many hands make light work! Thank you everyone for a lovely tradition and a night of fun!

August 14 CZECH FILM NIGHT at The Beltonian Theatre: "Milada" (2017) English with Czech subtitles. True story of Milada Horakova, martyr for democracy.

The Czech Heritage Museum & Genealogy Center and the historic Beltonian Theatre will screen “Milada,” a 2017 film in English which tells the true story of Czech hero and democratic politician Milada Horakova (1901-1950). Milada Horakova was the only woman to be executed by the Communist regime for her political beliefs. Horakova is played by Ayelet Zurer, an Israeli actress of Slovakian descent who also starred in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich.” 

The screening for "Milada" will begin at 7 p.m., Tuesday,  August 14, 2018, at 219 E. Central Ave. Belton, Tx. Free admission.   Rating: Adult for themes, violence and mature situations. For more information on the topic, please see related links below the story.

Uploaded by Loaded Vision Entertainment on 2017-10-25.

 If there were such things as secular patron saints, Milada Horakova would surely qualify. The starting point for her canonization could be this information from Wikipedia:

“From 1927 to 1940 she was employed in the social welfare department of the Prague city authority. In addition to focusing on issues of social justice, Horáková also became a prominent campaigner for the equal status of women. She was also active in the Czechoslovak Red Cross.[3] In 1929 she joined the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party[4] which, despite the similarity in names, was a strong opponent of German National Socialism. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Horáková became active in the underground resistance movement, but, together with her husband, she was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo in 1940. She was sent to the concentration camp at Terezín and then to various prisons in Germany. In the summer of 1944, Horáková appeared before a court in Dresden. Although the prosecution demanded the death penalty, she was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. She was released from detention in Bavaria in April 1945 by advancing United States forces in the closing stages of the Second World War.[5]

Scene from the movie "Milada" 

““I have stated to the organs of state security that I remain, on principle, firm in my convictions, and that I remain so, because I have built these convictions on the opinions, points of view, speeches and information of people who I have respected. Among them I include our country’s two greatest figures, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard Beneš, both of whom were an inspiration to me throughout my life.” ”

— Milada Horakova

Following the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945, Horáková returned to Prague and joined the leadership of the re-constituted Czechoslovak National Socialist Party, becoming a member of the Provisional National Assembly. In 1946, she won a seat in the elected National Assembly representing the region of České Budějovice in southern Bohemia. Her political activities again focussed on the role of women in society and also on the preservation of Czechoslovakia’s democratic institutions. Shortly after the Communist coup in February 1948, she resigned in protest from the parliament. Unlike many of her political associates, Horáková chose not to leave Czechoslovakia for the West, and continued to be politically active in Prague. On 27 September 1949, she was arrested and accused of being the leader of an alleged plot to overthrow the Communist regime.”

 The movie was written, directed and produced by David Mrnka, who has produced filming projects around the world for CNN, BBC, Larry King Live and others. Although the story is in the public domain and documentaries had been previously made, Mrnka sought the perspective of Horakova’s daughter, Jana Kanska, who lives in Washington D.C.

“I wanted personal information from the family and to have the blessing of her daughter,” Mrnka said.   “So I stayed three days and she drilled me. Ultimately she said yes and we worked together on the movie.”

“He had so much information already, which he obtained from the archives and from all the historical documents, that I was absolutely sure he was the right person to make this very difficult film,” Kanska told Radio Prague. “So I faithfully waited until now, when the film became reality.” The film was 10 years in the making, but Mrnka shot it in 35 days in 2016.  

“Milada” was a featured film for the “Czech That Film” festival held across the U.S. and Canada. It screened in April during the festival at Austin’s Violet Crown Cinema.

Click here to read Milada's last letter to her daughter. "I Will Always Be With You"

Interview with Milada's daughter http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/milada-horakovas-daughter-explains-role-in-new-feature-film-about-mother

Click here to read more when Milada's daughter, Jana Kansky, accepted the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom Award from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation for her mother.

https://youtu.be/Pl7zsrXRUP0 Czechoslovakia after WWI - Masaryk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spii_fjdgXs Milada’s daughter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ut-NJY2EVM Czech Ambassador to the U.S. resigns in protest of the rise of communism in the Czechoslovak government

https://youtu.be/DlB0Tsxf0iw During the same trials, Franiska Zeminova, aged 68, was sentenced to prison for 20 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vMZrJhlpXc&t=11s Documentary in Czech, with an interview of Frantisek Preucil, who was sentenced to life imprisonment during the same trial. Visit this page to see more about Preucil, his anti-communist activities, escape to West Germany in the and report to the Voice of America of the cruelties and conditions behind the Iron Curtain.

Jana on late night TV

Poster Series: iDnez - National Committee for a Free Europe

Trailer for movie https://youtu.be/NKbvYs_-Sto

Graffiti on wall in Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic, marking the 65th anniversary of the execution of Milada Horakova. 

July 10 CZECH FILM NIGHT at The Beltonian: "Želary 2003 Academy Award Nominee - Best Foreign Language Film

Ana Geislerova stars at Eliska in "Želery.”

“Želery” is one of those films that makes me wish it were holographic. The scenery is so beautiful and the music is so moving that I want to be surrounded by it. This movie is best viewed on a big screen, with excellent sound.  If I could have smelled the herbs, flowers and berry fields, the clean mountain air, the chimney smoke and even the animals; if I could have experienced it with all my other senses, I would have been even happier.

It is the story of Eliska (Ana Geislerova), a medical student in Prague during World War II. The Czechs were suffering under the hand of Reinhard Heydrich, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and architect of the Holocaust. She meets Joza (Gyorgy Cserhalmi) by chance one night at the hospital while there with her lover, who is his surgeon. Eliska and the surgeon work with the resistance, an underground network trying to save lives from Heydrich’s cruelties. When the network is exposed, she is sent alone to the country among rural folk to hide. As she adapts from city to country life and grapples with the risk she brings to the village, a romance quietly grows.

The story is set in Moravia, in the Wallachia region of the Czech Republic. This area, which includes the cities of Olomouc and Ostrava, is the ancestral home of the majority of Texas Czechs.  It is in the Beskydy Mountains, foothills of the Carpathians. The mountains are old and rounded, lush and green - similar to the Smokies here in the U.S. If you have visited there, you understand.  

The 2003 film, directed by Ondrej Trojan was nominated for the 2004 Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film.  The story is adapted from two works by Czech novelist Kveta Legatova, “Želery” and “Jozova Hanule.” Although Ms. Legatova, whose life spanned from 1919 to 2012, only found fame late in life, “Želery” was a literary sensation when it hit the bookstores only a few years before the film was made. In a 2004 interview with Radio Prague, Ms. Legatova spoke of her work.

“Želery” was written thirty or forty years ago - the basic stories - though, I had to make changes. But Jozova Hanule was written now - in the 1990s, when I was already in my 80s. I decided to write Hanule based on a competition put forward by the Milos Havel Fund, promoting the writing of film scripts. I thought 'Should I apply?' Then I took a story from Zelary - the end of World War II - and expanded it into the new book."

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Kveta Legatova, author of "Želery.”

Ms. Legatova was born in Podolí u Brna, a village just outside of Brno, also in Moravia and a few hours north of Vienna, Austria. But, she taught school in the Wallachia, and her characters are studies of people she knew there.

"The characters there have very sharp contours, (a feature) which elsewhere is not so well-defined - or doesn't come to a head." She spoke about her love for writing. "If I were to talk till midnight about the gallery of potential characters and you were able to choose from among your colleagues, your students, your neighbors, you would uncover one story after another. It interests me so much. If I could only write it all! If one didn't have to do anything else ..."

The Czech Heritage Museum is screening “Želery” on July 10  starting at 7 p.m. at The Beltonian Theatre, 219 E. Central Ave., Belton, Texas. Admission is free. Rated R (nudity, violence, adult themes). Czech audio with English subtitles.

Here is the trailer in English:

““Mr. Cserhalmi, burly and soft-spoken and Ms. Geislerova are both subtle, serious actors, and they handle the relationship between their characters with patience and precision. Mr. Trojan is similarly patient, allowing the story to ripen and evolve according to the seasonal rhythms of the countryside rather than marching it from one incident to the next. His camera wanders around the rugged, beautiful landscape, across the mountainsides, and through the forests, as Zelary’s human tableau comes quietly to life.” ”

— A.O. Scott, Sept 17, 2004, The New York Times

June 12 CZECH FILM NIGHT at The Beltonian: Kolya, 1996 Academy Award Winner - Best Foreign Language Film

Zdenek Sverak and Andrey Khalimon in Kolya

My mother invited me to see the 1996 Czech film, “Kolya,” in Fort Worth soon after it premiered. She had been going to the Czech Republic since 1988, but I’d never been. I enjoyed it on an artistic level, but I realized then that there were a lot of points, both humorous and serious, that the movie was making which I did not understand. I asked my mother a lot of questions and that helped me comprehend some of them. This film opened in me a new compassion for the Czechs, who have survived so many indignities to the soul.

Every few years, I watch it again and marvel at how many new clues are unlocked for me. There are things I did not understand until I visited my relatives in Moravia the second time, or until I’d refreshed my history education or until I became a focused student of my Czech heritage.

It’s a beautifully-made film. The photography, lighting, compositions and music are poetic and thoughtful. The story is so emotionally universal, I believe it would be understood without any words at all.

Watching it again recently with a new generation, I found myself explaining things to them that I’d missed the first time. For example, why the hero, Louka, a famous cellist with the Czech philharmonic is in severely reduced circumstances was not clear to me the first time, nor to my fellow viewers on this, their first time.

Roger Ebert wrote that “in a moment of unwise wit, he wrote a flippant answer on an official form.”

Wikipedia stated that he had been “half-accidentally blacklisted as ‘politically unreliable’ by the authorities.”

But, this time, due to my own experiences since the last time, I heard what was clearly laid out in the script, which for some reason, I had missed before. Louka’s brother defected to West Germany and Louka was punished for it. I’ve heard this story more than once from people I've met in the last few years, in both personal and eyewitness accounts. The last time I was in Prague, our driver told us he had an uncle in Fort Worth. We thought this was a nice connection. But, then he told us how his uncle’s emigration prior to the 1989 Velvet Revolution had been the reason this young man, who had qualified for a superior education, was denied one – and a good career - by the communist authorities.  

The first time I visited our relatives, we went to the home of the mother of our cousin, Jiri. She was a kind host with a warm home. The second time, Jiri took us to see her at a cemetery. Her black marble monument was freshly painted with gold leaf. I thought of Louka’s side hustle as a monument restorer.

While watching “Kolya” recently, a new question emerged for me. Although I could understand why Louka would so desperately want to buy a car, why would he risk so much for a Trabant? Why not a Tatra or a Skoda? Tatra, based in Ostrava, Moravia, is the third oldest continuously-operating car company in the world. The Skoda’s interesting story seems more likely though. Founded by Emil Skoda, in today’s market, it has a reputation equivalent in quality to Mercedes. Even though the brand fell behind during communism, the car was generally known as reliable. (The typically Czech humor piece to the story though, is that the word “skoda” means “it’s a pity.” It's a useful pun.)

Louka’s automotive dream however, is a Trabant, described as one of the worst cars ever made. Louka was willing to sell his bachelorhood in order to possess the car reviewed in the video below. After watching this, I think I need to go back and watch “Kolya” again to see what I missed. 

GO READ MY COLUMN HERE: http://autotradr.co/Oversteer Check out Robert's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/agingwheels The Trabant was built by Communists in East Germany from the 1960s until the late 1980s. They're rare in the United States - but I had the chance to drive one. Here are my thoughts. FOLLOW ME!

What are your thoughts and experiences on these topics? I’d love to hear your comments!

- Susan Chandler