Case Study of the Czech Republic

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

National Film Culture and Global Flows: Case Study of the Czech Republic

Bachelor Thesis

KAMILA JABLONICKÁ

Supervisor: Charles Michael Elavsky, Ph.D.

Department of Media Studies and Journalism Programme: Media Studies and Journalism

Brno 2020

NATIONAL FILM CULTURE AND GLOBAL FLOWS: CASE STUDY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Bibliographic record

Author: Kamila Jablonická Faculty of Social Studies Masaryk University Department of Media Studies and Journalism Title of Thesis: National Film Culture and Global Flows: Case Study of the Czech Republic Degree Programme: Media Studies and Journalism Field of Study: Media Studies and Journalism Supervisor: Charles Michael Elavsky, Ph.D. Year: 2020 Number of Pages: 83 Number of Words: 17 079 Keywords: National film culture; Global flows; Cultural Imperialism; Americanization; McDonaldization; Global Hollywood; Czech cinema; Kolja; Film analysis

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Bibliografický záznam

Autor: Kamila Jablonická Fakulta sociálních studií Masarykova univerzita Katedra mediálních studií a žurnalistiky Název práce: Národní filmové kultury a globální toky: případová studie České republiky Studijní program: Mediální studia a žurnalistika Studijní obor: Mediální studia a žurnalistika Vedoucí práce: Charles Michael Elavsky, Ph.D. Rok: 2020 Počet stran: 83 Počet slov: 17 079 Klíčová slova: Národní filmová kultura; Globální toky; Kulturní imperialismus; Amerikanizace; McDonaldizace; Globální Hollywood; Česká kinematografie; Kolja; Filmová analýza

3 NATIONAL FILM CULTURE AND GLOBAL FLOWS: CASE STUDY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Abstract

This bachelor thesis is focused on the issue of how global cultural and media flows have influenced the Czech film industry throughout history, with a particular emphasis on the period after the Velvet Revolu- tion. It examines developments in this context in light of several theoretical frameworks, considering how indigenous cultural attributes related to film culture in the Czech context have been impacted by the increasing influence of neoliberal market dynamics (socio-cultural, economic, etc.) therein. It concludes with a case study of one of the most successful Czech films of all-time – Kolja – considering the film as both – response to and result of – the dramatic forces the country and its film culture have experienced since 1989.

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Abstrakt

Tato bakalářská práce je zaměřena na to, jak globální kulturní a mediální toky ovlivňovaly a ovlivňují český filmový průmysl napříč dějinami. Zvláštní důraz je dán na období po sametové revoluci. Práce zkoumá vývoj v této souvislosti s ohledem na několik teoretických rámců a po- suzuje, jak byly kulturní atributy související s českou filmovou kulturou ovlivněny rostoucím vlivem neoliberální dynamiky trhu (sociokulturní, ekonomické a jiné). Práci uzavírá případová studie jednoho z nejúspěšnějších českých filmů všech dob – filmu Kolja – který se dá pov- ažovat za odezvu i důsledek působení vlivů, které země a její filmová kultura zažívají od roku 1989.

NATIONAL FILM CULTURE AND GLOBAL FLOWS: CASE STUDY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Affidavit

I hereby declare I wrote the thesis independently, using only the sources cited and the help of my supervisor.

In Brno, 24th May 2020 ...... Kamila Jablonická

NATIONAL FILM CULTURE AND GLOBAL FLOWS: CASE STUDY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to my supervisor Charles Michael Elavsky, Ph.D. for his great help with this thesis. I also want to thank my family, especially my mum, who has always supported me. Special thanks to Ing. Luboš Říčař for proofreading.

CONTENT

Content

1 Introduction 13

2 Theoretical part 15 2.1 Cultural Imperialism ...... 15 2.2 Modernization paradigm ...... 19 2.3 Americanization ...... 20 2.4 McDonaldization ...... 29

3 Global flows in cinema 32 3.1 National cinema ...... 32 3.2 Transnational cinema ...... 33 3.3 Hollywood Aesthetics ...... 35 3.4 Global Hollywood ...... 36

4 Post-communist Film Industry Transitions 39 4.1 Czech Film Before and Under Communism ...... 39 4.2 Czech Film After the Velvet Revolution till Nowadays ...... 44

5 Case study 56 5.1 Kolja ...... 56

6 Discussion 63

7 Conclusion 66

Name Index 68

References 70 Bibliography...... 70 Online sources ...... 77

INTRODUCTION

1 Introduction

Scholars, politicians, and filmmakers rarely agree on perspectives. In the case of the importance of film, they do. Thus, we can see film either as an instrument of politics and economy, as a medium providing the transfer of culture, as an artistic testimony about a certain national culture, or simply as a form of entertainment – in any case, it has an unquestionable role in modern society. During the last century, film, like other cultural products, became a tool of (super)power politics. Especially during the long era of the Cold War, which stimulated debates about the enforcement of power via media and later , the economic consequences of expanding conglomeration and commercialization in culture, moving the focus of questioning from that of state hands to the invisible hand of the market. The free market brought new aesthetics and new meanings into filmmaking. The international audience has changed: in the words of In- ternational Communication theorist Daya Thussu, the producer’s per- ception of spectators shifted from that of citizens to consumers (Thussu, 19). Such a metamorphosis challenges both aesthetic standards and the meaning of film for the public. As such, the topic of how the dynamics of global film flows have impacted Czech cinema in the years after the Vel- vet Revolution is a pressing one. In light of post-Cold War changes, these powerful flows emanated especially from the United States of America and Western European countries. What makes an investigation of this phenomena pressing is this: The liberalization of the market after the Velvet Revolution happened in connection with the appeal for everything Western in Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic. This included film, as well as television broadcasting. The role of VHS and later DVD and most recently streaming online platforms have played a significant role in the dissemination of Hollywood- produced motion pictures. Also, the advent of foreign filmmakers into the Czech Republic caused an interest within the local film industry for a new style of shooting, production and marketing. But it is also the aesthetics that changed, as well as the way of storytelling.

13 INTRODUCTION

The theoretical part of this thesis aims to explain theoretical con- cepts that relate to globalization and cultural imperialism and its subcat- egory known as Americanization. At the same time, I tried to link those theories to the Czech environment. I also tried to capture the evolution of American culture and its impact in the period from 1918 to 1989 in Czechoslovakia. Another chapter deals with global flows in cinema with an emphasis on Global Hollywood. Finally, the case study describes and analyzes the foreign elements that appear in Czech films. The Czech Republic, a rather small central European country, yet possessing a specific cinematography history, has nonetheless had an impact (i.e. Czech New Wave in 1960s) as a global influence. When speaking about Czech films nowadays, there is a big difference (as well as a very thin line) between ‘artistic’ and ‘mainstream’ production. This work therefore focuses more on what could be considered as mainstream film production. For determining the ‘mainstream’ examples to examine, I chose three indicators: official award of Czech films, popularity ranking from internet databases and cinema attendance.

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2 Theoretical part

Intercultural influence has been the subject of several theories, including cultural imperialism, modernization, Americanization, McDonaldization, and theories about global cinema. Comprehensively, they lead us to a better framework for analyzing contemporary processes related to global flows in culture.

2.1 Cultural Imperialism

Cultural imperialism as a theory was developed in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Writers used the concept to explain how the culture of less developed countries was influenced by flows of cultural texts, forms and technologies from more developed countries – universally called ‘the West’. However, the term is problematic, especially due to the nonexistent homogeneity of ‘western civilization’ as well as the strong political discourse it has during as well as after the Cold War, (Hesmondhalg, 376). Nevertheless, cultural imperialism emphasizes the role of mass media as one of the instruments of soft power, which is “the ability to affect what other countries want [which] tends to be associated with intangible power resources such as culture, ideology, and institutions,“ as political scientist Joseph Nye described it (Nye, 167). As implied above, this theory frequently used in the context of West- ern cultural power and also postcolonialism, became widely popular in the 1970s. At that time, media theorist Herbert Schiller wrote a crucial work emphasizing the dominance of Western capitalism, especially the role of multinational media corporations in the flow of global communications. Schiller’s work on cultural imperialism theory is well-known because of his comprehension on the creation of the media content based on so-called ‘packaged consciousness’. (Schiller, 1973) Over time, academics realized the power of media multiplied with new and more accessible technologies. In the late 1970s and early 1980s UNESCO showed interest in establishing a ‘new world information and communication order’ (later known under the abbreviation NWICO). An important person within this movement was Irish diplomat Sean McBride, who was also a chairman of the MacBride commission (Jackson,

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5). MacBride and his commission suggested a democratic reform of global communications structures. The final recommendations con- cerned 4 points: support to third-world countries in an aim to develop their state but also cultural independence; better conditions for journalists worldwide; the democratization of communication (the right to com- municate as well as the abolition of censorship) and a furtherance of international cooperation (Carlsson, 46). Another significant insight on the globalization of media was introduced by Jeremy Tunstall. His renowned book The Media are American was published in 1977. Tunstall described the advantage of the big US media production system that was able to compete within the overseas markets. At approximately the same time, Oliver Boyd-Barrett came up with three empirical examples of cultural imperialism 1: “Anglo-Franco- American dominance of an international or systemic network of global, regional and national news agencies” and “continuing influence if not market dominance of the UK over national Irish broadcasting and printed media,” in post-independence Ireland. The third piece of evidence of the phenomena the dominance of Hollywood movies and television entertainment production: “In many developed and emergent markets during the 1960s and 1970s, local cinema and television were heavily dependent on US imports.” (Boyd-Barret, 3). This last piece of evidence is probably the most important for this work: regarding the case of Hollywood dominance, he showed how negative consequences can befall local film producers. The economic power of Hollywood is concentrated in the hands of the multinational conglomerates that own key studio-distributors (Boyd-Barret, 121). Such companies have better conditions, for example to negotiate deals that favor Hollywood motion pictures in movie theater chains in Europe. In most countries this dominance provoked various forms of protec- tionism, including state intervention and government legislation favor- ing indigenous industries. Such measures are usually not successful enough. Needless to say, no matter how the production of local film producers is equal to Hollywood, they have to face internal competition within the state as well (Elsaesser, 38).

1 Boyd-Barrett uses rather the term ‘media imperialism’ than cultural imperialism.

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With the growing sophistication of technology, academics continued to question its impact on media. Earlier literature assumes that media imperialism is connected with media, corporate and political power of many different nation states, not only the biggest ones. In the 2000s , scholars such as Arsenaultand, Castells and Noam began to pay attention to cultural imperialism at the local, regional, national and transnational levels, regarding giant and highly commercialized media conglomerates (Boyd-Barrett, 9). Consequently cultural imperialism theory shifted from international relations more towards the issue of concentration of media power. Current opinions on cultural imperialism in the traditional form that was established in the 1970s are inconsistent. John Tomlinson states it has three main weaknesses. The first is ambiguity in interpretation – the so-called western countries do not always ‘agree’ with the US in terms of politics, entertainment or simply lifestyle (Tomlinson, 1-2). The second problem is the eager criticism of institutional concentration of media production without considering the interaction and attitude of the impacted people: “Proponents of the idea of cultural imperialism have paid too much attention to tracking the global flows of cultural goods and too little to exploring the way in which people actually interact with, appropriate, and attach meaning to these goods […] The receiving culture brings its own cultural resources to bear upon what is imported.” (Tomlin- son, 2). Likewise, Richard Pells portrayed the same problem of perceiv- ing Americanization as an offshoot of cultural imperialism. When it comes to media, people of the modern world, Pells argues, are used to diverse media content – moreover, they are not only submissive receiv- ers of it. According to Pells, no American executive in the entertainment industry nor any politician can expect, that any movie, TV show, song or book will automatically transmit a unified “American” set of values to un- wary foreign audiences (Pells, 281). The final weakness of cultural imperialism according to Tomlinson is a shortage of empirical studies. John Tomlinson himself, as a globalization theorist, questioned the ambiva- lence and undirectedness of international cultural flows, so as to stress the lack of recognition of complexity in cultural imperialism as well as the whole theory (Hesmondhalg, 379-380).

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On the other hand, Oliver Boyd-Barret is convinced that the actual phenomenon of media imperialism has never disappeared or ceased to be valuable. On the contrary: “This field of study is sustainable, has evolved, and has never been more relevant than in the current, so-called digital age.” (Boyd-Barret, 8). The problematics surrounding cultural imperialism has been attractive for many years for many scholars. Needless to say, s everyone has a different approach towards it: at least ten paradigms of cultural imperialism have been created so far according to Tanner Mirrlees. All of them examine the role of cultural power among the ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ actors in the global world. One of the latest works on this topic summa- rizes cultural imperialism as a discipline that observes a cultural system in its entirety as well as in its components (which are for instance geog- raphy, state cultural policy or communication) in relation to an imperial power and the global transmission of this power too (Gudova, 2018). Supporting cultural imperialism is the fact that it became the first approach within US and Western academic circles to critically examine how media corporations could extend and strengthen unequal power relations between the US and the rest of the world, notably, not only between the US and poorer countries but also between the US and wealthy states, especially European ones (Mirrlees, 21). I assume at this point, it is relevant to remind the reader that what Western academia only argues about on an academic level, Czechs have experienced at least twice in the 20th century. Even though the Czech nation has a long history and cultural tradition within Europe, one could say that it has never be- longed to colonies – in the true sense of the word. However, these two experiences were connected with the political subordination to an ‘im- perialist’ force, whether it were the Nazis or Communists. In other words, cultural transmissions were then ‘only’ side effects of the overall power submission. Cultural imperialism translated into economical imperialism which inevitably leads towards political imperialism so we are getting into endless feedback loops (Kroes, 3). Such changes should, according to the main point of cultural imperialism theory be provided via instruments that Joseph Nye named ‘soft power’. The whole process happens among states that are possibly on the same or slightly different level of development, as previously described.

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Czechoslovakia (and since 1993 the Czech Republic) was at the beginning of the 1990s not exactly a ‘wealthy’ state (at least compared to the states of Western Europe), but the country did not belong to the least developed countries of the world either. Within the Socialist bloc, Czech- oslovakia (together with Eastern Germany) was objectively the state with the strongest economy – partly because of its geographical location that helped in trade with West. Also, Czechs optimistically considered themselves a developed nation with a strong economy and culture (Žídek, 2).

2.2 Modernization paradigm

Since the establishment of the concept of cultural or media imperialism, there was a second paradigm – the so called modernization paradigm. Proponents of this theoretical approach focused on theories relating to modernization, political and economic development and technology transfer, whereas issues such as imperialism, underdevelopment, evolution and liberation were mostly examined within the dependence paradigm (Carlsson, 33). The core of the modernization theory is the belief that industrialization and economic development will lead to positive change in society: economic, cultural and political (Berman). The modernization theory was dominant among American social scientists from late 1950s to the 1960s. Their optimistic view was characterized by the progress in the military technologies and the establishment of bureaucratic institutions that go hand in hand with the development and industrialization of (newly independent) countries in Africa, Asia or Latin America after World War II. As Nils Gilman notes, this faith is usually considered as a cause for the infamous American economic and military interventions in the postcolonial regions. The modernization theory’s main purpose, Gilman continues, was not only the understanding of what is happening in these areas, but also the American effort to build a comprehensive theory “promoting change that would make these regions become more like ‘us’ – and less like Russians or Chinese.” (Gilman, 3). Modernization theorist believed that poor countries would be able to ‘catch up’ with the rich countries while following their example – even though the political changes in Western societies have taken at

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least a few generations to be accomplished. Thus, we can observe that cultural homogenization in modernization theory was desired and justified by the US for the ‘greater good’, at least in the Cold War era (Gilman, 6).

2.3 Americanization

2.3.1 Americanization as local and international process The term ‘Americanization’ became widely used around the latter half of the nineteenth century (Goodwyn, 2018) (Pells, 7). Originally it was a name for “activities that were designed to prepare foreign-born residents of the United States for full participation in citizenship.” 2 According to Britannica such a process also comprised the “understanding of and com- mitment to principles of American life and work.” Such a definition seems to be insufficient considering the diversity of the country. In the article from 1920, called Americanization: Its Meaning and Function we can learn about many obstacles that the country faced and must have dealt with. The author sees it as the first step for the US to become a world leader (Aronovici, 697-698). Those obstacles – such as the assimilation of immigrants, racial tensions, and language barriers – were supposed to be solved by the Americanization movement. Americanization is presented here in accordance with the ideas of internationalism, as opposed to the European nationalism that caused war. Americanization would therefore become a part of a new nationalism, not based on patriotism, but on social consciousness and individual values (Aronovici, 728). Be- sides that, immigrants bringing their culture to the US should not be an obstacle, but opportunity – ‘cherry-picking’ from European culture could have helped to establish America’s still developing culture. As Aronovici decribed: the “Americanization movement would assist in making these cultures a part of our common heritage out of which will be realized a new world,” (Aronovici, 717).

2 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, October 1). Americanization. Retrie- ved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Americanization

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During the 20th century Americanization took on a new meaning. The British journalist William Stead published in 1901 a book called The Americanization of the World, or the Trend of the 20th Century. As a journalist, Stead promoted the gradual Americanization of British newspapers (Goodwyn, 409). 3 Nevertheless, his visions went beyond journalism; he also suggested that American ideas of organization of a modern society and economy could be adopted and transformed by other nations. Stead was not alone; Sigmund Skard, one of the founders of Amer- ican Studies in Europe, emphasized the element of ‘democratic solidarity’ which exists between the US and Europe. Such solidarity should have been based on a common cultural heritage (Pells, 7). This second meaning we should understood by the term American- ization as an international force is, for the purpose of this thesis, more important. Ritzer and Stillman described it as: a “powerful one-directional process that tends to overwhelm competing processes (e.g. Japanization) as well as the strength of local forces that might resist, modify and/or transform American models into hybrid forms,” (Ritzer & Stillman, 35). Their definition insinuates Americanization in a slightly derogatory sense, but in some cases, it can be seen in a positive way; namely by evoking a democratizing force (Goodwyn, 407). Such contradictions have their roots in the past. At the end of the 19th century America matured into a major indus- trial and military power. Trade with the US started to be very important, especially for Germany as Richard Pells points out. The relations of Eu- ropeans towards the New World was contradictory back then, not solely because of political reasons such as economics and power, but more due to social motives. Whereas aristocracy and wealthy members of the bourgeoisie saw in America a threat to traditions. Moreover, culturally, America was seen as a province overshadowed by European art of all kind. Such a country driven by suspicious democratic appeals of freedom reminded Europeans too much of the painful experience of the French Revolution. On the other hand liberal and socialist activists together with

3 According to Godwyn, Stead wanted to bring to the British newspapers American in- novations such as new genres (interview), or the exaggerated ‘scare-head’ head- line, with legitimating voices from the establishment (elected politicians).

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workingmen and peasants looked up to America hoping in its power that it offered an improvement for the living conditions of common folk (Pells, 5-7). Both World Wars strengthened the position of the US as a superpower. Americanization would probably not be so prevalently observed if changes during the interwar period did not bring about a new important aspect of Americanization: namely, a cultural one. Of all forms of mass entertainment in the 1920s, none was so captivating as the audiovisual forms of art – music and films. While jazz music could possibly struggle with the European tradition of classical music, movies did not have suchwell-established competitors. As such if there exists one mass medium where America overtook the rest of the world in the interwar period, film was it . 4 With the victory in World War II and well-established instruments of cultural power, Americans accepted their role as heroes, or conquer- ors – depending on which side of the world and political spectrum the American nation was judged. The rivalry of superpowers during the Cold War led to a sharpening of the process that some perceive as cultural imperialism on both sides. Considering this, the Marshall Plan was an element of Americanization too; the adoption of American practices (with a little American help) was meant to bring American abundance. (Noble, 12).

2.3.2 Americanization After the Cold War It is certain that Americanization as a concept is still alive today, even though it has been modified. Many political and media theorists imply or openly claim, the ‘new empire’ or ‘new type of empire’ is run (or should be run) by the United States of America (Gudova). Sometimes Americanization is interpreted too narrowly: e.g. the chaotic American promotion of capitalism, democratization, and overall modernization led to dismal effects in various countries. Dutch Ameri- canist Rob Kroes reminds us that such a view is a common, but quite simplifying fallacy. In his opinion, such trends would have occurred an- yway, even without American interventions. In contrast, Kroes highlights

4 How did it happen is summarized in the chapter about Global Hollywood.

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Americanization as a concept that shows America as a construct or an image, which played an important role in the 20th century. He aptly observed that America become a representation within cultural wars all over the world with usually two sides to interpreting it either rejecting it or seeing it as a liberating alternative (Kroes, 2). This idea is confirmed also by the Czech experience under communism where official rather anti-American discourses clashed with the underground affection for all things American. Another of Kroes’ ideas could be applied to Czechs as well as to other European nations. He suggests that postwar generations in Europe have created their own ‘collective memories’ of America based mostly on their indirect experience with the American way of life, represented in music, films or advertisements (Kroes, 10). Unlike Western states, the Czech’s opportunity to make these memories was heavily restricted, which does not necessarily mean their relationship towards America was negative. As will be described further in this thesis, Czechs enjoyed American cultural products in spite of communist disapproval. Another contemporary author, Melanie Pooch, suggests American- ization can be understood as a new iteration of neo-colonialism. The set- tling and colonization now occur via the transportation of trends and values. Those values are besides others of self-determination, self-development and self-making. What is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is intensified in widely extended audiovisual products such as TV shows or Hollywood films, which are popular in the US as well as in the rest of the world. This phenomenon does not only transfer the American lifestyle but also expresses its superiority in the disguise of a civilizing mission to bring the world democracy, wealth, and consumerism. Americanization can be therefore seen as an offshoot of cultural imperialism in which the hegemonic culture imposes its power over non-Western cultures (Pooch, 24). Political scientist David Rothkopf seems to be a proponent of Amer- ica’s active participation on globalization; according to his widely quoted article from the late 1990s, the economic and political interests of the US guarantee the use of English language, the means of communication in accordance with American standards and American cultural production including television or radio. Such wide use can help spread values that Americans are comfortable with (Rothkopf, 45). Rothkopf saw the US as an information superpower, that can (and should) contribute to the development of the whole world, otherwise the US faces the choice

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between “leading a more peaceful world or being held hostage to events in a more volatile and violent one” (Rothkopf, 52). I would conclude this chapter with this sidelight by Tanner Mirrlees: in the post-Cold War world, it is apparent that access within non-US cultures to American entertainment products shows them a standard of living and style of life that they do not yet enjoy. However, it can also arouse their desire to pursue an American way of life. Thus, globalizing American entertainment media causes a conflict between those who have such lifestyles, and those who do not (Mirrlees, 19).

2.3.3 Critique of Americanization Concept The contrasting concept of cultural globalization is advocated by British political economist Philippe Legrain. Legrain highlights the positive aspects of globalization such as the exchange of information leading to the development of technologies, markets or art. The Internet is an important game-changer too, especially as a way of communication. It also brings more individual freedom to decide, where individual belongs: new communities are simply chosen and not coerced. Leagrain basically rejects the core ideas of cultural imperialism that would be driven led by the US: according to Legrain it is “a myth that globalization involves the imposition of Americanized uniformity, rather than an explosion of cultural exchange” (Legrain, 62). After all, he argues, American products are not “American” enough because their creation was conditioned by their transformation from other cultures (as Aronovici noticed already in 1920) and yet, on many markets domestic (or American products integrated in some way) products are still preferred. Therefore, “America is an outlier, not a global leader,” (Legrain, 63). This could link up with Fareed Zakaria's concept of a post-American world order: not as in the decline of America, but rather the rise of everyone else, especially China and India as economic powers. The United States remains a superpower politically and militarily. Nevertheless, in- dustrial, financial, educational, social, and cultural dimensions are directed from many places and by many people (Zakaria, 5). But post- Americanization does not mean to imply the elimination of Americaniza- tion, as Swedish Americanist Danuta Fjellestad contributes (Fjellestad, 411). American influences are still present, rather the difference is

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Americanization can now be taken for granted, particularly by the younger, 'post-everything', generations. 'America' (as presented e.g. in commercials) is nowadays not threatening but entertaining. Moreover, the borders between what is 'American' and what is national are blurry. This domesticated 'America' is the ultimate success story of Americani- zation (Fjellestad, 416). Another European contemporary scholar, Jaap Kooijman, describes in a study of Dutch pop culture that the fear of Americanization as a form of cultural imperialism has almost disappeared. The threat that national culture and identity could be replaced has been substituted by a fear of the growing influence of Islam. According to him the omnipresence of American pop culture is now perceived as a buffer rather than a threat (Kooijman, 144). Among other opponents of Americanization as a key part of the modern world’s media globalization, we can count Jeremy Tunstall. Whereas in 1970s Tunstall believed that The media are American, in 2008 he published a book titled The media were American. In this later work, he explains why Americanization is less relevant in contrast with the past. His arguments are based around the increasing national culture, sentiment and media in the continent where most of the world’s popu- lation happens to live – in Asia (Tunstall, XIV).

2.3.4 American Culture and Czechoslovakia (1918-1989) Since 1918 it is possible to talk about a proper American-Czech political and cultural relationship. In this year, an independent Czechoslovak state was established – and the American president Woodrow Wilson was very much involved. The main train station of the Czech capital city is named after this American president as an expression of gratitude for his influence on the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia and other Central European states). 5 As Polish historian Halina Parafian- owicz pointed out, this ‘defender of democracy’ and ‘apostle of freedom’ has a gained great support in Czechoslovakia (Parafianowicz, 1).

5 Socha prezidenta Wilsona je zpět před nádražím — ČT24 ... (2011, October 5). Re- trieved from https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/regiony/1239674-socha-prezidenta- wilsona-je-zpet-pred-nadrazim

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American diplomacy saw a chance in the positive feelings towards the US and almost immediately started to help Czechoslovaks find their way to American culture. The language barrier was problematic, because the countries of Central Europe had been for most of its existence under heavy German influence and Czechoslovakia was no exception. On the occasion of the appointment of the new American ambassador, the then president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk said that with the help of the ambassador, Czechs will learn about America’s best pages, among which he included generosity, charity and altruism, hence such ‘Americanization’ will be welcomed (Parafianowicz, 1-2). In the second half of 1920s, Czechoslovakia film culture emerged as a powerful medium, producing a big impact on the popularity of the culture and style of the USA : “[…] admired and popular Hollywood heroes promoted fashion and lifestyle not only at home but also abroad, thus evoking a desire to follow these patterns, i.e. to own and use similar items. As one journalist at Národní listy 6 remarked, the Americanization of Czechoslovakia began with ‘American film and ended with shoes and hats’" (Parafianowicz, 5). Additionally, while American movies did not directly influence the choices of Czech consumers, it extensively impacted the Czech film industry; most important, Barrandov Film Studios in Prague. Its architect Václav Havel admitted he was inspired by America: “While visiting the University of California, Berkeley, I stopped at a beautiful district inhabited by wealthy Californians. And there – in 1924 – the idea of Barrandov came to my mind.” 7 The impact became more pronounced as sound merged with film in the beginning of 1930s. However, idealistic ideas about altruistic Americans faded away after 1925, when Americans demanded that Czechoslovakia pay 115 million dollars worth of war debts. In newspapers, cartoons with images of a fat self-satisfied ‘Uncle Sam’, a cigar in his mouth and a pouch in his hand started to appear – much to the displeasure of American diplomats. The gradual ‘cooling’ of relations contributed also to the initiation of

6 Národní listy (The National Newspaper) was a Czech newspaper published in 1861– 1941, Národní listy (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cojeco.cz/index.php?detail=1&id_desc=63509&s_lang=2&title=N%E1rodn%ED%20listy 7 Historie filmové tvorby na Barrandově. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.barrandov.cz/clanek/historie/

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Czechoslovak quotas on American products, especially cars. The bitter vanishing of the American myth was further accomplished during the Great Depression, when the vulnerability of the ‘Big Country’ was mani- fested (Parafianowicz, 7). In spite of politics and a financial crisis, in the 1930s the number of American films screened in Czechoslovakian cinemas significantly ex- ceeded both German and Czech pictures. According to Petr Koura, who examined the swing culture in the Protectorate, the youngsters tended to imitate the Hollywood stars, and particularly popular was Clark Gable – the press even referred to swing fans as ‘gejblíci’ (Little Gables) (Koura, 142). At the end of 1930s, the peacetime in Central Europe ws disturbed. Under Nazi rule, the import of American culture to Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren was naturally undesirable. Especially in film production, Goebbels' systematic propaganda made perfect use of the well-equipped Barrandov studios for the production of films in accordance with the official ideology of the Third Reich.8 Czech cinema should have been ara- yanized. This process included the expropriation of Jewish property, the persecution of film stars of Jewish origin and anti-Semitic motifs in the films (Bednařík, 7). The American influence in postwar Europe illustrates the concept of coca-colonization, a concept that could be considered as one of the off- shoots or maybe one of the consequences of Americanization. The thought was introduced in Reinhold Wagnleitner's study Coca-Coloniza- tion and the Cold War, examining the American cultural mission in the Czechoslovak neighbor – Austria. Wagnleitner assumed that Coca-Cola as a company embodied the economic and political aspects typical for the US. Those aspects (capitalism and ‘big business’) should have been accepted in Europe during the Cold war (Gordon). Partly due to the financial aid Europe received, such as the Marshall Plan and the physical presence and spending habits embodied in the American troops and ci- vilians. In the Austrian case, American advisors also contributed to this process being sent to remodel the Austrian media after World War II (Marling, 733).

8 Historie filmové tvorby na Barrandově. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.barrandov.cz/clanek/historie/

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Czechoslovakia was naturally in a different position than the de- feated Austria. Like virtually all of Eastern and Central Europe, the country entered the Soviet sphere of influence shortly after the 1945. Instead of Americanization, these states now faced Sovietization. Americans have their reasons as to why they allowed such a turn of events. After all, the communists won the elections, hence the democracy in Czechoslo- vakia led paradoxically to non-democratic rule for the next 40 years. Tru- man’s administration utilized one general policy for the region. This policy failed in the Czechoslovak case, in spite of American political and economic efforts (Clements, 201). After the communist takeover, the official discourse was naturally not very friendly towards America. For example, the US army’s participation in the liberation of Czechoslovakia in the spring 1945 was inten- tionally censored in the media, which was reported initially by the Amer- ican Embassy in Prague (Kozák, 64). Their complaints about the imbal- ance of media coverage were not successful, but it underscored the communist fear of America’s power in Czechoslovakia. Yet, Czechs were not totally cut off from America’s cultural impact. The postwar years were characterized by the lack of films – movie theatres had to offer mostly German pictures or Czech films with German subtitles. The problem was solved through contracts with Soviet and Hol- lywood studios. Even though the communist party favored Soviet distribution, the share of Western and American films in Czechoslovak cinemas was initially almost equal to the Soviet product. The higher cinema attendance for Western films was directly addressed consequentially, as weekends produced higher attendance. As such , Soviet pictures were subsequently scheduled on the weekends, to ‘develop the cultural edu- cation of Czech viewers’ (Skopal : 2011, 84-85). Nevertheless, the new measure did not work such that in the 1950s, more strict decisions were implemented, namely limiting western movies to a 35 percent quota (Skopal 2011 : 89). In spite of these quotas and the presence of Warsaw pact troops, the era after 1968 (the so-called Normalization) nonetheless demonstrated that Czechs still preferred American films over Soviet ones according to KGB documents. “Five to ten people are present in Prague cinemas during the screenings of Soviet films,” noted the former KGB employee Vasily

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Mitrochin in 1980. American films on the contrary did not suffer from a lack of popularity among Czechs. The Soviet secret service explained the popularity of these films as a concession to the bourgeois taste of the audience, as well as the ‘hostile intentions’ of the Americans, whose action blockbusters even took precedence over Soviet films on Soviet cinema screens. They also blamed insufficient advertising, as compared to the promotion of Western pictures. 9 In the 1970s, artistic and technical aspects of American films was appreciated even in the Czechoslovak press. Other aspects of the Ameri- can film industry were criticized, namely the commercialism, depictions of violence, and sex. American films were to a large extent a reflection of the reality of life in the US – which was often the only image Czechs could ascertain. . Racism, human indifference, the power of money or the ugli- ness of the environment – these negative phenomena were reinforced to the readers of Rudé právo, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Šlechtová, 82-83). The Czech underground of the 1970s and 1980s naturally was par- tial to US culture. Particularly popular were some aspects of American pop culture such as rock music, the hippie movement and its tradition of protest songs, the free will of the rebellious American universities in the 1960s, the culture of African Americans, and the poetics of the beat gen- eration poets (Machovec, 6-7).

2.4 McDonaldization

International business, mainly rooted in the United States, brought aspects to the global economy as well as culture (Pooch, 23). In turn, a film industry creates its products (films) to offer them worldwide. The stand- ardized process embodied within the concept of McDonaldization (the standardization of mass production logics and processes) was attractive to local entrepreneurs, mostly due to their economic benefits, whether

9 V ČSSR je moc uvolněná kultura, na sovětské filmy se nechodí, stěžovala si KGB. (2014, August 14). Retrieved from https://www.novinky.cz/domaci/clanek/v- cssr-je-moc-uvolnena-kultura-na-sovetske-filmy-se-nechodi-stezovala-si-kgb- 238275

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it applied to hamburgers or film. The whole phenomena is naturally more complex –consumer expectations are rather different when it comes to food for the stomach or for soul. Still, certain similarities can be observed. The McDonaldization concept was has been first described by the American sociologist George Ritzer as “the process whereby the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world” (Ritzer, 1993 : 19). It is important to distinguish Americanization from McDonaldiza- tion. Americanization is an endeavor of ‘American empire’ to succeed politically all over the world, as Bond and O’Byrne title it (Bond & O’Byrne, 27). McDonaldization on the contrary means standardization of practices around the world; it does not require the decline of the nation-state or its autonomy. Nevertheless, if cultural differences are elided over and national states seem to become more similar, the chance of a more successful and effective business for everyone is higher (Bond & O’Byrne, 27). In other words, McDonaldization can be seen as driving out traditions and replacing them with a homogenous system due to its efficacy , which similarly applies to the United States of America (Ritzer & Still- man, 40). This is the reason why McDonaldization and Americanization are sometimes conflated. McDonaldization, according to Ritzer is a process of the rationaliza- tion of production, intended to be based on five dimensions: efficiency, predictability, calculability, substitution of nonhuman for human technology and control over uncertainty (Ritzer, 2013 : 372). Efficiency implies the usage of the rational and the most optimum model of production. That means that individualized inputs are not allowed, which can cause a ‘displacement of goals’. This happens when the inflexibility of the rules negatively affects the ability to reach the goals. Predictability allows no surprises and contributes to a greater rationali- zation, discipline and order. Calculability refers to the process based on quantity rather than quality. Ritzer also noticed the rationalizing society’s requirement for numbers and other data such as scores and percen- tiles. Substitution of nonhuman technology refers to the trend of ‘making things easier’, basically, a reduction of human work to a robot-like action, that means human workers are expected do only simple repetitive oper- ations. The last dimension, control, is targeted to address the

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uncertainties of life such as birth, death or food production as well as what Ritzer call the major source of uncertainty in social life – other people. An example can be a supervisor who controls supplies in the fast food chain (Ritzer, 2013 : 373-378). Indeed, hamburgers and movies are not very similar to each other. On the other hand, some similarities can be observed. Both products are made to be consumed all over the world. Hamburgers, however, are not transported to Europe directly from the US as films are. Such transitions would not make sense; the hamburgers would certainly lose their fresh- ness and cold French fries would lose their unique crunchiness. In addition, an average and common meal would become a big-ticket item at once due to transport costs. But let’s suppose that even this did not deter the consumer: how would the local food industry react? Of course, as long as creativity and individuality exists, local chefs can lure customers into their restaurants with unique offerings. However success breeds repetition. For locals, this is manifest as imitative practices and approaches. – e.g. why not make a hamburger according to the American recipe with local ingredients?. Imitation is by its definition much easier when it comes to a product like McDonald’s hamburgers. The question is: can the same idea be applied to cultural products as well? Are the building blocks of McDonaldization (efficiency, predictability, calculability, substitution of nonhuman for human technology and control over uncertainty) applicable to motion pictures? Are the main components of the American film machinery somehow similar to McDonald’s policy? If so, can they be successfully transported into a country such as the Czech Republic? For a better understanding of this consideration, the following section seeks to clarify how global flows within the global film industry introduce the profound and complex impact of Hollywood, its protocols, and its logics on cinemas all over the world.

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3 Global flows in cinema

3.1 National cinema

In Andrew Higson’s essay The Concept of National Cinema, he suggested that “national cinemas were the product of a tension between ‘home’ and ‘away’, between the identification of the homely and the assump- tion that it is quite distinct from what happens elsewhere” (Higson, 60). Furthermore, national cinemas usually reflect past, present and future, cultural heritage, traditions, a sense of common identity and the continuity of the nation. But this also means that the national cinema looks out across the borders and expresses their ‘otherness’ (Higson, 60). Ten years later Higson revisited the essay. He notes that cooperation in filmmaking at the international level is not new – already in the 1920’s, there were films created that we could consider to be ‘transnational’. Reconsidering the problematics regarding ‘leaky borders’ and ‘the transnational emerges’, he concludes it is not useful to think through national terms solely anymore. According to him, national cinema is not necessarily the best way to achieve cultural diversity and cultural specificity. However, he admits to the importance of diverse identities, images and traditions encoded in film culture and its ability to deal with the culturally specific in its depictions (Higson, 66). Higson also questions the relationship between film cultures and their benefits for the nation state : “A strong national cinema can offer coherent images of the nation, sustaining the nation at an ideological level, exploring and celebrating what is understood to be the indigenous culture,” (Higson, 63). As Deborah Shaw later pointed out, film may not be able to prove access to the truth about the nation, yet every movie shows in a certain way the discursive and mythical construction of national identities (Shaw, 65). In contrast to Shaw, Thomas Elsaesser casts doubt as to whether the national cinema offers a representation of coherence related to one nation based on its history and ‘ideological ballast’. The nation as an entity is difficult to determine due to differences in class, gender, race or reli- gion, which exist within one nation as well. According to Elsaesser, the national cinema that (as a manifest entity) was legalized and legitimized

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in the public sphere since it enjoyed state-patronage and support, but also governmental measures, encompassing taxation and tariffs and censorship. This happened to occur during the First World War, when national cinemas were established as part of the political economy of nations in Europe. However, this economical definition does not seem very appropriate after the 1970s, when the media and communication net- works started to transform under the auspices of commercial and market principles (Elsaesser, 36-37). In Czech cinema this key development occurred naturally later than the 1970s. If the end of national cinema has really begun, it started with the fall of communism in 1989 when the state ceased to fully subsidize the film industry, eliminating state support and control over the cinema.

3.2 Transnational cinema

The term ‘transnational cinema’ is lacking in specific meaning, because it does not determine any aesthetic approach, a movement of filmmakers, or any specific national grouping – it is not even a distinct area of study. Yet, what makes cinema national and transnational is an increasingly pressing question in academic circles. The reason relates to an increasing numbers of films in the international market which cannot be identified with a singular nation. For example, many films are funded by a range of production companies. Utilizing a multinational cast and crew, or shooting in different countries is also no exception (Shaw, 47). The commercialization of culture and the shift from national and state-centric media to those with international linkages has meant that nowadays producers see the audience not as specifically-identified citizens but rather as universal consumers instead. In digitized global communication, the mobility of media is a crucial element. The typology of media flows have three distinct categories. Transnational are categorized as both private and state-sponsored flows, e.g. Bollywood or Latin Amer- ican telenovelas, as well as the Arabic news network Al-Jazeera. Geo- cultural media flows focus on specific cultural-linguistic audiences such as those found in diasporic populations (e.g. Chinese television channel Phoenix) (Thussu, 11-12).

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This thesis concentrates on global media flows, which mostly consist of US-led media in English, dubbed or indigenized versions. 10 Re- gionalized and localized content of Western origin increase their reach beyond the elites in the world and helped to create the ‘global popular’ (Thussu, 11). Regarding global flows of media, especially film, it is important to mention the concept of glocalization, which is when media content and services get ‘tailored’ to specific cultural consumers as part of a commercial imperative, usually of Western or Westernized media flows (Thussu, 19).11 The consequences of this process are outlined by Andrew Higson as having three possible impacts on the global flow in film production. The first is related to the cultural imperialism theory – namely seeing such developments as the infection or even destruction of the local culture by foreign invaders. A second viewpoint is that foreign audiences will re- ceive the exotic elements in film in a positive way. In this case, the content of films will have an eventually liberating or democratizing effect on the local culture. The last viewpoint suggests that the message will be interpreted according to an ‘indigenous’ frame of reference, which means a metaphorical translation into a local style (Higson, 62). In addition, another development occurred related to international film flows that, while not monumental, nonetheless had deliberate implications for said flows. In 2019 the Foreign Language Film category’s name at the Oscars was changed to International Feature Film. This change was explained by Larry Karaszewski and Diane Weyermann, co- chairs of the International Feature Film Committee as follows: “We have noted that the reference to ‘Foreign’ is outdated within the global filmmaking community. ” 12

10 After all, according to Thussu, ‘closest US ally’ – Britain – benefits from American globalization too, especially on the field of news and current affairs. 11 Broadly speaking, glocalization reminds the homogenization that brought modernization paradigm in cultural imperialism. 12 ACADEMY ANNOUNCES RULES FOR 92ND OSCARS. (2019, April 24). Retrieved from https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-announces-rules-92nd-oscars

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3.3 Hollywood Aesthetics

Economics aside, there was something else about Hollywood that made it an imposing force– namely its aesthetics. Todd Berliner in his book on Hollywood aesthetics questions the relation between Hollywood and ideology. In contrast to other scholars who have handled this topic, he concluded that Hollywood aesthetics is not solely an instrument of an ideology and its oppressive goals, but ideology can be an instrument of Hollywood aesthetics goals (Berliner, 137). A characteristic of this is, for example, the ideology of violence in the action genre, making it the best possible solution to any given situation (Berliner, 138-140). Perhaps more important is the art of working with emotions. Psychologists try to explain the process of evaluating films by utilizing The Appraisal Theory of Emotion. According to this theory, de- picted situations in films cause us to see them as personally relevant: meaning the belief the situation affects our own concerns – fictional characters as well as us or other people. (Berliner, 141). This has a lot in common with the ideological framework as well because this is the hidden power of movies, the ability to “establish systems of beliefs and values that guide our appraisals of events,” (Berliner, 141). Judging by the psychology research, Berliner puts forward three conclusions about Hollywood aesthetics: the design of the movies stimulate “a variety of emotions that un- fold over time”, there is a prevalence of intense emotions, both positive and negative; and finally, Hollywood’s tendency to offer happy endings (Berliner, 146). Happy endings seem to be crucial for a positive evaluation of the film by many of today’s contemporary spectators. Unhappy endings, on contrary, encourage a desire for some kind of change. Con- sequently, if filmmakers thought like politicians and intended to inspire change, they would very likely employ unhappy endings. Hollywood, on contrary, normally uses the opposite approach (Berliner, 146). Jon Boorstin explains that the ‘secret recipe’ of Hollywood feature films success is quite simple: continuously evolving events in an understandable sequence that never goes against the logic of us – spectators (Boorstin, 17). The other aspects only contribute to the realistic appear- ance of the narrated story. These can be referred to as the so-called ‘money shots’, meaning expensively-looking extreme long shots that is supposed to give the impression of the real world where the story takes

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a place (Boorstin, 20). Also, time is important – especially, if we look at the faster version of reality. Viewers do not forgive illogicalities (Boorstin, 53).

3.4 Global Hollywood

As film historian Thomas Elsaesser notes, the American cinema is usually not considered a national cinema, but rather “has become synonymous with the international film business” (Elsaesser, 37). For the answer on the question how Hollywood become a film industry ‘hegemon’ we have to consider the economic and the aesthetic side as well. The roots of the economic success of Hollywood go back to the interwar period. Before World War I, it was Europe where the film industry flourished – France, Italy or Germany were the main and most recognized producers of films at that time. The US’s leading role in the field of motion pictures began in the 1920s (Pells, 14). At this point, we have to also recognize that since the 1920s, US film exports were heavily supported by the state, in accordance with the motto ‘Trade follows the film’ (Miller & Maxwell, 42). American producer Darryl Zanuck in his letter to the Writer’s Congress in Los Angeles confirmed the connection between film and propaganda, when he wrote that “if you have something worthwhile to say, dress it in the glittering robes of entertainment. […] without entertainment no propaganda film is worth a dime,” (Alford, 170). The American advantage in this field was obvious: the quality of the American films went hand in hand with the wrecked European economy, thus hindering the ability of European filmmakers to compete with Hol- lywood after World War I. American cinema also benefited from its large domestic audience, that was effectively protected from competition with European film screenings through the imposition of tariffs and other discriminatory practices (Pells, 15). Hollywood, or Los Angeles-New York culture and commerce as Miller and Maxwell call it, dominate entertainment around the globe directly or by implication, even though the world’s majority of filmmakers is based outside the US (e.g. Indian Bol- lywood) working under diverse ideological projects and patterns of distribution (Miller & Maxwell, 33-35). However, linking US imports to its hegemonic, ideological framework shows national production in

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different light: local and national programs seem to be counter-hegemonic, non- ideological and overall positive (Iordache, Van Audenhove, Loisen, 762)– which is not always the case. On the other hand, Hollywood was in touch with foreign cultural influence too. We need to ask: are films nowadays influenced by Hollywood or is it the whole world that influences Hollywood? The process of inter- nalization began during the 20th century: Charlie Chaplin, Billy Wilder, John Woo and many others famous filmmakers (after all, the Czech director Miloš Forman would belong there too) were or are not of Ameri- can origin at all and yet found success as part of its system. Melis Behlil even calls them ‘global’ instead of ‘émigré’ or ‘foreign’ filmmakers: “as Hollywood has become global, the paradigms that rely on emigration, whether for political or economic reasons, no longer function” (Behlil, 209). Behlil, who focused on the topic of the globalization of Hollywood, points out that most of the contemporary media conglomerates are transnational corporations owned by Hollywood studios. Therefore Hol- lywood has always employed talent from around the globe and increasingly does so. That is the reason why transnational cinema is relevant to Hollywood (Behlil, 214). The term global Hollywood should not be perceived only through the lens of films made in southern California, but rather through the understanding that “Hollywood is a space of relations and flows, as much as it is a physical place” (Goldsmith, Ward & O’Regan, 1). Probably one of the most significant books dealing with the topic of Hollywood’s worldwide success was published in 2001 and has an apt name: ‘Global Hollywood’. The authors combine a political economy critique with a cultural studies appraisal. According to the authors, Hollywood’s triumph is due to fac- tors such as the ‘new international division of cultural labor’, intellectual property and copyright laws, distribution, and marketing (Miller, 2001: 42). One of the authors, Toby Miller, revisited the topic nine years later. He points out that at the beginning of the 2010s, Hollywood became partly responsible for a growing anti-American sentiment, no matter how much power over cultural messages the world-famous group of studios in California gained during the last century. The reason is Holly- wood’s key role in the international economy that either excludes or dominates most of the world. Miller classifies three new challenges for Hollywood: cultural piracy, an audience that is getting used to television

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broadcasting and the ease of entry for new creators outside the confines of the Hollywood system (Miller, 2007: 2). Regarding Europe, the American perspective on the European continent has been for the most part relatively unified: Europe seems to be one of the cinema destinations that still make up Hollywood’s most important foreign markets. However, it is not so unambiguous in reality, as gaps exist between the European West and East (Elsaesser, 13-14). This brings us to the Czech Republic and its relationship to Hollywood. In the following section, I summarize the historical context of the film industry in Czechoslovakia / the Czech Republic, including its film culture, characteristic aesthetics, and the international dynamics surrounding its evolution.

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4 Post-communist Film Industry Transitions

To understand how global flows impacted the Czech film industry, it is necessary to realize how the situation was before they Velvet Revolution and also before the communist takeover in 1948. The following section introduces the main aspects of Czech film production from 1918 up to today.

4.1 Czech Film Before and Under Communism

4.1.1 Production The first films released on the territory of today's Czech Republic were introduced while the country was still a part of Austria-Hungary. Czech film production up to 1918, however, was also not stabilized in terms of financing and consumption (Hudec, 14-15). Even after Czechoslovakia's independence filmmakers struggled with foreign competition. Hudec sees the reason for this as the lack of quality filmmakers and productive capital (Hudec, 17). With the advent of the sound film in the early 1930s, change came: American films ceased to be favored among Czech audiences. Also, political and economic aspects encouraged the implementa- tion of the so-called ‘contingent system’ which restricted American imports). American films almost disappeared from Czech cinemas, replaced by German, British, French, and most importantly, Czech motion pictures (Dvořáková, Horníček, 38). Whereas in 1930 only eight Czech feature films were made, by the end of the decade, the annual average had risen to over forty (Hames, 10). The development of film production was nurtured by the new Barrandov film studios in Prague – constructed by Václav and Miloš Havel. Interestingly, the studios were intended as a center of international production. Later , the studios continued to produce output even after Nazi control was established during the occupation from 1939 to 1945, with production continuing at a reduced level (Hames, 10). Czechoslovakian film production was organized even before the Communists officially took control over the government in 1948. The Ministry of Information, at that time already controlled by KSČ

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(Communist Party of Czechoslovakia), was in charge of the cinema affairs from May 1945, when it started the processes of expropriating cinemas, especially those owned by Germans. In the same year President, Edvard Beneš signed a decree that nationalized the cinema – making it the first branch of the Czechoslovak economy to be nationalized. The decree became legally effective at the end of August (Knapík, 42). Nationalization included the entire filmmaking process: film studios and laboratories, renting and screening of films as well as their import and export (Knapík, 42). The nationalization of the film industry was an important milestone for Czechoslovakian cinematography. New procurations secured the financing of the movies – but at the expense of free speech. As such, directors could ultimately focus on the process of filmmaking instead of fund- raising. This brought a certain level of comfort when it came to deciding which screenplays to adapt without overt concerns related to financing (Havel, 3).

4.1.2 Characteristics As mentioned above, the cinema was firmly anchored into the fabric of Czech culture since the First Republic (1918-1938). Czechoslovakia during the 1920s lagged behind the developed world cinema systems. For Czech films from this period, one notes a typical provincialism, custom- ized to the needs of the “simple Czech man”. So as to earn money, filmmakers were mostly shooting comedies, adventure stories, or melo- dramas (Hudec, 17). Despite these tendencies, , Czech and Slovak cinema captured foreign interest when three films were screened at the Venice Film Festival: Řeka (River, directed by Jan Rovenský, 1933), Extase (Ex- tasy, directed by Gustav Machatý, 1932) and the documentary film Zem spieva (The Earth Sings, directed by Karel Plicka, 1933). According to Pe- ter Hames, “the notion of ‘Czech lyricism’ was born” (Hames, 10). Also before the Second World War, the development of comedy as a genre continued and evolved. How important it was, is evident during the Nazi oppression, when comedies were one of the rare forms of maintenance the production and cultural continuity (Hames, 10).

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As Knapík states, during the first months after World War II, it was assumed that Czechoslovakia would renew its active contact with western European culture. Czechoslovaks were finally able to see innovative foreign films, formerly banned during the Nazi regime. Also encouraging was the return of Czechoslovakian filmmakers who were forced to leave the country because of the Nazis (Knapík, 40). The communist takeover in 1948, unfortunately, many radical changes (politically, culturally) and dashed hopes The era between 1948 and 1956 in Czechoslovakia is considered to be one of decline in science, art, and culture. Whereas other forms of art such as books were able to find their way to an audience, the film industry was completely subordinated to the state organs as Bilík notes. In Czechoslovakian films, political designs emerged. . Screenplays usually focused on finding foreign or internal enemies sabotaging the development of the socialist state. As such internal enemies were labeled intel- lectuals as well as kulaks 13 or leaders of the Church. Those social groups were ridiculed and mocked. Other films had different roles: in light of the restructuring of the national economy, films were expected to depict manual workers in an attractive light (Bilík, 96-97). However, the majority of production can be characterized in a simple schematic: “People ceased to be people on screen and became mere ‘hangers for ideas’, en- dowed with simplified black or white characteristics,” (Havel, 4). Aesthetically speaking, Czechoslovakian films in the 1950s were well crafted, particularly thanks to the Czech cameramen’s style. How- ever, , the historical value of those films does not consist in its aesthetics (Bilík, 96-97). Audiences were not satisfied with the new state-building agenda. Although filmmakers tried, films lacked the non-ideological elements of folk entertainment, that was typical in the prewar period. Hid- den propaganda was seen in comedies, sometimes through the assis- tance first-republic film stars, who lured bigger audiences to see ‘medi- ocre agitation’. (Bilík, 98) Propaganda was even more evident in adventure films, which were often based around spy plots from the ranks of the enemy.

13 Kulak is a farmer characterized by Communists as having excessive wealth, Kulak. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kulak

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Even the Communist Party itself soon began to realize that this was not any way to capture the attention of Czechoslovakian audiences. In 1950, a resolution about film was passed , containing a warning against the oversimplification and narrowing of reality. From now on, the films were to be not only didactic, but also appealing, for example by adding a love plot to a film about espionage with a military plot. Only a few film scripts passed the approval procedure of the National Film Board: in 1951 there were only seven Soon after , film was considered to be the most important mass art form due to its easily being controlled. (Bilík, 99). Some directors managed to create their own unique styles even during the hard times of the 1950s. However, even these minor deviations from the forced mainstream production protocols played an important role in Czech cinema cultural development. Promoting in some way un- conventional projects was very risky and could have a negative impact on the further career of such ‘rebels’. Not many films from 1950s were successful in comparison to foreign productions. In the 1960s the situation changed, for example when the Slovak filmmakers Ján Kádár and Elmar Klos later won an Oscar for Best Foreign Movie with The Shop on Main Street (shot in Slovakia and in Prague’s Barrandov studios as well). 14 However, The Shop on Main Street is more of a Slovak film, than Czech. Nonetheless, two years later, Closely Watched Trains received the same honor – and in this case, we can finally speak about a truly Czech film.15 A profound change for Czech cinema came in the 1960’s: namely the Czech New Wave – or speaking in the terms of American journalists – the Czech miracle. Such change would not have been possible without the political and social shift which occurred at this time and opened up spaces for more liberal ideas to be shared. Young talented filmmakers initially ‘hidden’ in the creative environment of FAMU (Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) managed to, in quite a short time period, shoot extraordinary films that were recognized abroad as well. Czech filmmakers took inspiration from Italian

14 The 38th Academy Awards: 1966. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1966 15 The 40th Academy Awards: 1968. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968

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neorealism, the French New Wave, English Free Cinema and innovative Soviet tendencies in Soviet cinematography (Ptáček, 133). One of the leading representatives of the Czech New Wave was Miloš Forman, whose Hoří, má panenko (The Firemen's Ball, 1967) received the nomi- nation for Best Foreign Film in 1969. As he describes, the young filmmakers were successful due to the fact that they finally showed the truth, returning to the silver screen the faces and fates of the ‘common people’ to show how intelligent and creative they are (Ptáček, 133). Another reason Czech New Wave garnered international acclaim is suggested by Robin Bates: “Acceptance of the totalistic socialist vision gave the filmmakers a concrete idealistic base which American artists do not have (unless the artist can find his value base in capitalism, he must opt for mystical ‘humanitarian values’) and allowed a touch of optimism in even the darkest of their works” (Bates, 37). Furthermore, Bates believes the new examination of the leftist revolutionary ideals in the Czech reality of that period led to attempts to revitalize those ideals; and this endeavor was somehow charming for people living in western capitalist countries. The 1960s are also important because television production started to expand . The first Czech television channel began broadcasting in 1953 – up until then, it was only the citizens of East Germany and the Soviet Union that had had the privilege to watch television from the comfort of their homes (Končelík, Večeřa, Orság, 2010). But Czechoslovakia became a true ‘television nation’ in the era of normalization, i.e. after the Prague Spring in 1968. The two decades after the Prague Spring is characterized by the significant diversity of genres that emerged in Czech films. Unfortunately, the diversity substituted for quality in some cases – mostly because of censorship which intervened into the screenplays. Such interventions contributed to the incomprehensibility and illogicality of some of the re- sulting work of Czech filmmakers at the time (Kopal, 129). In the mid-1970s, a TV could be found in almost every Czechoslovak household. Simultaneously, regular color broadcasting began on both available programs. The boom of television also revealed the differences and specificities between TV and film production. TV serials during Nor- malization especially found their place in the living rooms of the people of Czechoslovakia (Kopal,128-129). Feature films during Normalization

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had two main functions according to Brigita Ptáčková: the ideological support of the regime and mass entertainment for an increasingly con- sumerist society (Ptáčková, 157) Also, the American historian (of Czech origin) Paulina Bren notes that socialist society came to resemble capitalist society in terms of the consumer expectations people increasingly sought in their entertainment (Bren, 120). This might be one reason why this era is considered the ‘golden’ age of Czech comedy In general, the last 20 years of film production under communist rule could be described as “an instrument of official political propaganda, but also as a ‘decadent screen’ (‘velvet screen’) that projected images of the collective (un)consciousness of Czechoslovak society before 1989,” (Kopal, 134).

4.2 Czech Film After the Velvet Revolution till Nowadays

4.2.1 Production Small-nation media systems tend to be more vulnerable to foreign market dynamics and competition. According to Petr Szczepanik, the small state has limited resources, such as the shortage of creative talent and capital, small audience market share, or limited advertising investment potential. Business opportunities and policy options are also restricted (Szczepanik, 34). After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Czech society had to cope with many changes. Although film can be seen as art, it is also a business. The complexity of filmmaking causes great financial demands for its creators. Czech filmmakers were for 40 years subsidized by the government, making the economical side secure, at the expense of artistic freedom. In the 1990s, filmmakers gained freedom but lost their stable financial security. The true “year zero” for Czech cinematography was the year of 1992. Up to this year, films were still created with state support (Halada, 63). The difficult process of the privatization of the biggest film studio Barrandov in the 1990s is connected with the name of the producer, screenwriter and director Václav Marhoul. In 1990, Marhoul was elected as the new director of Barrandov film studios. Marhoul’s directorship

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was characterized by a pragmatic approach towards filmmaking that included a focus on commercially-advantageous projects (Grombíř, 198). The first two years under his management brought an extensive reorgan- ization: the number of employees was reduced by 1700, mostly from the administrative side, but also from the creative and technical branches as well (Halada, 20). Marhoul described in an interview for Respekt maga- zine how the reality for Barrandov studios looked right before the Velvet Revolution: “[There was] the army of unwilling people and the absolute domination of the blue-collar professions over the artistic element. It was decided by lighting electricians, whether we will be shooting or not. If you did not pay them for the possible overtime job – and bribery was a common thing – they just turned off your lights in the middle of the shoot.” 16 Even so, Barrandov was saved – notwithstanding that the privatization caused property losses overall due to the opaque transfer of assets, partly also due to the lax approach of the Czech Ministry of Culture in terms of over- sight (Grombíř, 198). Most Czech filmmakers had to rely on some form of cooperation with television sector (primarily public television – Czech TV), the state (via The Czech Film Fund) or private producers (in the 1990s it was Bonton, Heureka, Space films, with new entities launching or arriving in the Czech Republic over time). Funding also occurred through international co-productions emerging from both private initiatives or within the cultural institutions of the European Union. Providing locations to foreign productions has proven to be a good source of money with Mis- sion Impossible standing as one of the biggest successes (Grombíř, 197). The Audiovisual Producers' Association (APA) serves as an organization to link the activities and interests of Czech-based producers and production companies engaged in feature films, film service, commercials, documentaries, animated films or tv projects in productive ways. As of April, 2020, it had 103 members. 17

16 Vitvar, J. H. •. (n.d.). 1988 • RESPEKT Speciál. Retrieved from https://www.respekt.cz/special/2018/1988 17 ASOCIACE PRODUCENTŮ V AUDIOVIZI. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.asociaceproducentu.cz/#o-asociaci

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Recent years has seen an increase in the amount of international cooperation. Such international projects include the recent adaptation of Jerzy Kosiński’s novel Nabarvené ptáče (The Painted Bird, directed by Václav Marhoul, 2019) or the TV film series about Maria Theresa. How- ever, this international co-operation yet remains mostly at the Central European level, but exceptions do exist – e.g. with the film Tiché doteky (A Certain Kind of Silence, directed by Michal Hogenauer, 2019) included Dutch and Latvian participation. In 2005, the film critic Zdeněk Holý. described the problems of Czech film production The film funding has been problematic due to the unresolved financing of the film fund and television paying for films which are expected to be ‘viewer-friendly’ such that they would attract to TV screens as big an audience as possible. Such conditions according to Holý were not quite suitable for the creation of challenging “art” projects within Czech cinematography. Holý concludes, that quality can be found mainly on the periphery of Czech film production, meaning in documentary films and in “various experimental tendencies that have different production facilities.” 18

4.2.2 Characteristics The creative freedom in Czech filmmaking after the Velvet Revolution caused directors to suddenly explore new opportunities for experimen- tation and change regarding the aesthetics and stories in their work For examining the present day continuity or change in Czech filmmaking aesthetics, it is necessary to look more closely at the dominant features one can find in the popular Czech movies during the first 30 years after the Velvet Revolution and consider what makes them unique. This will consequently help us to distinguish what the impact of global cinema flows have had on the Czech cinema culture during this time when it became integrated into the broader dynamics of the global film industry.

18 Holý, Z. (n.d.). Český film: kvalita na okrajích. Retrieved from https://www.advojka.cz/archiv/2005/8/cesky-film-kvalita-na-okrajich

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4.2.3 Evaluation of Czech Film after the Velvet Revolution According to Audience and Critical reactions The aim of this part of the thesis is to consider specific films and genres within Czech cinema culture after the Velvet Revolution which were favored by the Czech public and critics. Three indicators can help to determine what might be considered to be the most important Czech films for the Czech public as well as critics during this time. The first is the Czech Lion Awards, the most prestigious film award related to mainstream film in the country. The second indicator is rankings within users of Czech online film databases, which, while potentially biased, nonetheless pro- vides a certain representation of opinion within a wider public inter- ested in films. The third indicator of film popularity within Czech audiences is cinema attendance. The highest award for achievement in film and television in the Czech Republic is called the Český Lev (The Czech Lion Award). Since 1994, members of the Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA) – comprised of academics – decides the winners in the various categories. Moreover, the ČFTA has also annually recommended candidates for the Oscar awards. The 19 These members are former recipients of either Czech Lions from previous years or other international film awards.20 As such, it is certainly a mirror for Czech cinematography, even though it has many critics. Film critic Jindřiška Bláhová notes that the Czech Lion has established a ‘genre-specific’ kind of movie. These are mostly historical dramas “with a distinctive cast, a luxurious setting and a comprehen- sible story that ideally touches one way or another on Czechoslovak / Czech history.” The costly production is reflected in the costumes and designs, which the camera “paints beautifully”. The reason why academics appreciate similar movies every year is, according to Bláhová, because Czech Lions are supposed to be ‘representative and flashy’. 21 It is true, that 12

19 The number of the categories is changing, but most of them are similar to e.g. Oscar awards – such as the best film, actor, actress etc. 20 Čfta. (n.d.). ČFTA. Retrieved from https://www.ceskylev.cz/cz/o-cfta/stanovy 21 Bláhová, J. (2020, March 8). Barvoslepý Lev. Retrieved from https://www.respekt.cz/kultura/barvoslepy-lev?fbclid=IwAR2zMV-khVb- jtq01MJ6cjjpuk2JBSfu2YTqk-SdROhxVOQbCQCVuFZmSQSc

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of the 27 Best Picture Award winning films in the main categories reflect Czech or Czechoslovak history. 22 The other aspects are rather subjective, but such descriptions could fit with Nabarvené ptáče (The Painted Bird, directed by Václav Marhoul, 2019) or Masaryk (A Prominent Patient, directed by Julius Ševčík, 2016), and possibly also to Hořící keř (Burning Bush, directed by Agnieszka Hol- land, 2013) as well as Ve stínu (In the Shadow, directed by David Ondříček, 2012). All the aforementioned films were formally foreign coproductions with the participation of an international cast, (in the case of Hořící keř, this includes its so director), crew or locations. ‘Flashy’ Czech Lions are certainly important, but it can hardly be considered the only or best indicator of public opinion (excepting the Audience Award category). For another perspective, , we can look at film databases. The ČSFD (Czech-Slovak Film Database) is a database of films, serials, and TV shows and a social network site for Czech film fans as well. This comprehensive database of films is useful for charting foreign and Czech films across genres and historical stages due to its renown between film fans and critics as well as the general public. The list of the best films according to ČSFD users includes many foreign movies. However, Pelíšky (Cosy Dens, directed by Jan Hřebejk, 1999) finds in first place among the Czech films – at the time of the writ- ing of this thesis, it has an approval ranking of 91.2% out of nearly 105,000 ratings from the users of ČSFD the movie reached the 10th rank, whereas the number of its ratings is comparable to of the most successful film on the list, which is American-made The Shawshank Redemption.23 Pelíšky is a ‘bittersweet comedy’ set in the 1960s in Czechoslovakia. The film focuses on the story of two families and their members who solve difficult life situations partly caused by the communist regime. The film has three Czech Lions (besides the Audience Award and best Poster, the Prize for the Best Actor went to Jiří Kodet 24) and has reached its high popularity rating due to its annual Christmas rebroadcast.

22 Čfta. (n.d.). ČFTA: Vítězné filmy. Retrieved from https://www.ceskylev.cz/cz/vi- tezne-filmy 23 Žebříčky. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.csfd.cz/zebricky/nejlepsi-filmy/ 24 Čfta. (n.d.). ČFTA: Pelíšky. Retrieved from https://www.ceskylev.cz/cz/detail?movie=Pelíšky&csfd=4570

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When selecting by the country of origin, we can see that the best Czech films are sports documentaries from the Olympic Games in Na- gano: Pásky z Nagana (The Nagano Tapes, directed by Ondřej Hudeček, 2018) and Nagano 1998 - hokejový turnaj století (Nagano 1998 - Hockey Tournament of the Century, directed by Charilaos Karadžos, 1998). These documentaries even surpassed Pelíšky. Pelíšky holding third place is followed by the documentary film V síti (Caught in the Net, Vít Klusák, Barbora Chalupová, 2020). The high ratings is perhaps related to the the low number of ratings (as in case of documentaries about Nagano) despite the fact it was the most attended Czech documentary film after the Velvet Revolution. 25 The last feature film in the top 5 is the Oscar-awarded Kolja (Kolya, directed by Jan Svěrák, 1996) that sensitively narrates the story of an older Czech man who ‘adopts’ a little Russian boy. Here there is a problem with the objectivity of the ratings because Kolja received only half as many ratings as Pelíšky – more than 58,000. The next on the list is a documentary film again, Síla lidskosti – Nikolas Winton (The Power of Good: Nicholas Winton, directed by Matej Mináč, 2002). The satirical TV series Česká soda (Czech Soda) was recreated into a film in 1998 and directed by various directors, and subsequently sits in 7th place. Nevertheless, it is not a conventional motion picture as it consists of a number of short sketches. In 9th place (the 8th is occupied by the American film The Bourne Identity that was coproduced by Czechs, thus it belongs to the category ‘Czech’) belongs to the feature film taking place during the Sec- ond World War Musíme si pomáhat (Divided we fall, directed by Jan Hřebejk, 2000). The last in the first ten is a documentary road movie of the traveler Dan Přibáň from 2014 Trabantem až na konec světa (Tra- bant vs. South America).

25 Dokument V síti chytil nejen sexuální predátory, ale i diváky. Návštěvnost je re- kordní. (2020, March 3). Retrieved from https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/kultura/3056916-dokument-v-siti-chytil-nejen-sexualni-predatory-ale-i-divaky-navstevnost-je-rekordni

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Considering the rest of the list of what Czechs appreciate, besides ‘serious’ documentary films, genres such as (bitter) comedies, drama or fairytales are represented. According to users of another film database FDB (Film Database) the most successful Czech feature film is Pelíšky again, followed by a fairytale S čerty nejsou žerty (Give the Devil His Due, directed by Hynek Bočan, 1984). Below the list appear two classical “people’s comedies” of the normalization era, Vesničko má středisková (My Sweet Little Village, directed by Jiří Menzel, 1985) and Marečku, podejte mi pero! (Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!, directed by Oldřich Lipský, 1976).26 Kinobox database confirms the exceptional position of Pelíšky as well. Here also users ranked highly Marečku, podejte mi pero!, Vesničko má středisková, and S čerty nejsou žerty. 27 Another perspective from which to determine which films Czechs like is what we might refer to as “voting with one’s feet” meaning analyzing cinema attendance. Even though the years after the revolution 28 were tough for cinemas, in recent years, we can see an opposite trend. Responding to a record level of cinema attendance in 2019, film critic Jindřiška Bláhová notes cinema visits are a ‘new national sport’. The most attended film of 2019 was the Czech comedy Ženy v běhu (Women on the Run / Jogging for Love, directed by Martin Horský, 2019). The film was seen by 1,543,842 viewers throughout the year. This makes it the third most successful film rated by cinema attendance since 1990. The first place of all time also has Czech film Tankový prapor (The Tank Battalion, directed by Vít Olmer, 1991). Tankový prapor is another of the films that takes place in the communist past, this time following the story of a young soldier in 1953. The screenplay is based on the novel of Josef Škvorecký, a Czech writer who left Czechoslovakia after Warsaw Pact troop occupation in 1968.

26 FDb.cz. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2020, from https://www.fdb.cz/nej/hodnoceni/ 27 Nejlepší filmy. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2020, from https://www.kinobox.cz/zebricky/nejlepsi/filmy 28 Accoring to statistics of Czech Union of Film Distributors: Přehledy, statistiky (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ufd.cz/prehledy-statistiky

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Second most attended film of all time is Bohemian Rhapsody (directed by Bryan Singer, 2018). The fourth most attended film, Černí baroni (Black Barons, directed by Zdenek Sirový, 1992) refers to the communist era in a military setting as well. Following this is James Cam- eron’s Avatar from 2009. Sixth to tenth place belong solely to Czech films in this order: Kolja (Kolya, directed by Jan Svěrák, 1996), Anděl Páně 2 (Angel of the Lord 2, directed by Jiří Strach, 2016), Vratné lahve (Emp- ties, directed by Jan Svěrák, 2007), Ženy v pokušení (Women in Tempta- tion, directed by Jiří Vejdělek, 2010) and Tmavomodrý svět (Dark Blue World, directed by Jan Svěrák, 2001). Except for two films, all of the Czech films in the list are comedies. Even the fairytale Anděl Páně 2 has comedic elements, at least according to film critics that appreciate the witty screenplay. 29 Therefore,the coproduction of the war drama about Czechoslovak pilots in the Royal Air Force – Tmavomodrý svět -- by the established directing duo Jan and Zdeněk Svěrák, can be considered as a ‘serious’ film that lured the highest number of viewers into Czech movie theaters since the Velvet Revolu- tion. Based on these findings, Czech mainstream film apparently has some specific attributes. Even though every indicator showed a slightly different result, it is noticeable that there are two trajectories that go throughout most of the successful Czech feature films – humor and history – which correspond with Czech audience tastes. Both aspects are reflected in the praise for Pelíšky. However, Pelíšky was nominated for the Oscars for the best foreign film. Films awarded the Czech Lion (and nominated to the Oscars) tend to be quite serious and aesthetically more profound and ‘representative’. Cinema attendance reveals a bit of the current trends, partly because of the resurrected interest in cinema visits

29 Šimková, D. (2016, November 29). Recenze: Anděl Páně 2 je skvělý film, Strach by měl některé kolegy školit . Retrieved from https://www.totalfilm.cz/2016/11/recenze-andel-pane-2-skvely-film-strach-by-mel-nektere-kolegy-skolit/ Spáčilová, M. (2016, November 15). PRVNÍ DOJMY: Konečně radost! Anděl Páně 2 je ještě lepší než první. Retrieved from https://www.idnes.cz/kultura/film-televize/andel-pane-2-recenze.A161115_123145_filmvideo_spm

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in recent years. In terms of genre, Czech comedies are for Czech cinema visitors still preferred to other genres. It would be a stretch to say an ‘average Czech viewer’ can be deter- mined by this brief analysis. As already discussed in the section about national cinema, the nation is not homogenous . Instead, I would like to consider these two typical features of Czech films in more depth in light of the findings brought forth by considering these evaluations by critics and the public. In what follows, I consider these two main phenomena, humor and historical themes, which – though not necessarily emergent singularly after 1989 – have nonetheless become more integrated as a dominant and deeper characteristic of the Czech cinema tradition since that time. This fusion of the two Czech film attributes – humor and the past – is what makes Czech film exceptional. As film critic Zdeněk Holý outlined, Czech films can attract attention abroad by examining the impact of history (especially World War II) on the lives of ordinary people. In the Czech audience films giant popularity by utilizing ‘Czech kind humor’. This combination of history and humor has, according to Holý, significant social implications – namely it helps it audiences move towards a reconciliation with the tumultuous past. 30

4.2.4 Czech Humor and Nature Czech humor is sometimes classified as ‘black’ or widely put together with a sentence that should have been passed by the Reich-Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich during Nazi occupation: Czechs are ‘laughing beasts’. 31 Canadian theatre director Ewan McLaren said once in an interview for Divadelní Noviny that Czech humor is intelligent and ironic. Accord- ing to him the ability to cut off with laughter from things that are too serious is one of the features of the Czech nature. Another typical feature

30 Holý, Z. (n.d.). Český film: kvalita na okrajích. Retrieved from https://www.advojka.cz/archiv/2005/8/cesky-film-kvalita-na-okrajich 31 Even though the statement has been quoted a lot in media, it is not historically pro- ved that Heydrich really said that. Češi = "smějící se bestie". (2015, February 27). Retrieved from https://www.ptejteseknihovny.cz/dotazy/vyrok-cesi-smejici-se- bestie

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of Czechs is their skepticism about great ideologies and religious cur- rents.32 However, documentary filmmaker Olga Sommerová thinks that it is not entirely true. Living in a Christian culture for two thousand years. according to her, influenced the nation – Czechs believe in some ‘higher power’, they just do not call it God, thinks Sommerová.33 The importance of the function of humor (at least in the Czech context) in Czech films is outlined by Czech director Filip Remunda. Accord- ing to him, the idea could succeed in the Czech Republic however because of the tradition of Czech humor-based resistance, due to the fact that “[…] there is a vibrant tradition in the Czech Republic of using humor as a form of resistance […]” (Coover, 66). Lubomír Hampl, who did research on Czech films and the popular TV series “Hospoda” (directed by Jaroslav Dudek, 1996-1997) attempts to define an archetype of a ‘typical Czech’. The national identity of a Czech is a talented, skilled and resourceful individual. There may also be some of the positive qualities that the Czechs attribute to themselves, namely diligence (linked to the saying ‘Golden Czech hands’), merriness, sense of morality, including an attitude based on the famous novel The Good Sol- dier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek – ‘švejkovství’ 34 (Hampl, 33). Those features imply that ‘Czechs can handle everything in every situation,' (Hampl, 34). On the other hand, the Czech soul is constantly confronted with the fear of what other thinks (shame) which goes hand in hand with envy, an ac- cusatory nature towards others, as well as obedience or servility. Those negative attributes of the Czech nature are often used in Czech films and TV series. As Hampl states: “thanks to them the Czech viewer […] may be better aware of his shortcomings,” (Hampl, 43).

32 Dombrovská, L. (2017, June 1). Ewan McLaren: Český humor je inteligentní a iro- nický. Retrieved from https://www.divadelni-noviny.cz/ewan-mclaren-cesky-humor-je-inteligentni-a-ironicky 33 Čechům se nedá upřít především humor. (2016, June 8). Retrieved from https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/regiony/1810117-cechum-se-neda-uprit-predevsim-humor 34 The character of Švejk embodies „wise fool“ (Pytlík, 151) who under the guise of a harmless person cleverly escapes unpleasant duties (Šmilauer, 1948)

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British film and media theorist Peter Hames has examined the Czech and Czechoslovak cinema in a couple of his works. He notes that Czech comedy has been always prominent, at least when it came to Oscar winners and nominations (Hames, 32).

4.2.5 Dealing with the Past As many countries of the former Eastern Bloc, The Czech Republic has similarly experienced a certain nostalgia for the 40-years-long socialist era . There are two dominant manifestations of this feeling in audiovisual art or literature: retrospective representations of socialism and the persistent popularity of socialist-era popular culture (Pehe, 239-240). “The use of period popular culture in retrospective representations estab- lishes a narrative of cultural continuity between the socialist and post-socialist periods, and this continuity projects such a historical sense.” (Pehe, 250) According to Pehe, the present political order is perceived as the culmination of a trajectory of Czech history. However, the possible return of the past exploits the aesthetics of the past at will. Therefore, Czech ‘retro’ demonstrates a strong anti-communist sentiment, which rein- force the political status quo. The Ostalgic problem lies in the possibility of relativizing the period of the Communist rule. This era is viewed utterly negatively by the official state doctrine and part of the historical community. But this picture of it as a time of oppression, repression and totalitarianism is difficult to reconcile with the nostalgic memory of the 'lost youth' of the people who are currently in their '50s and' 60s, and the widespread belief that 'it was better' before. “In today's context, ostalgia therefore seems to be a way of re-tackling the current situation and disappointments with today's circum- stances.” 35 Film critic Kamil Fila notes that the basis of the film tastes of people who lived under socialism are retro films. Frequently repeated in the television during normalization and today as well were movies taking place somewhere between the beginning of the century till the second

35 Adamus, J., & Hošek, J. (2020, January 28). Artchiv: Ostalgie a Westalgie. Příjemné vzpomínání i nebezpečná relativizace minulosti. Retrieved from https://art.ceskatelevize.cz/inside/ar-t-chiv-ostalgie-a-westalgie-prijemne-vzpominani-i-nebezpecna-relativizace-minulosti-r88Ze-r88Ze

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world war. The only exception are the films of the Smoljak-Svěrák duo, which were set in the present and did not look back into the past. Thus, the nostalgia in their films is connected with the normalization era. At the same time, young filmmakers have no more desire to show this time as idyllic –newer films dealing with the communist past do not represent it as such . If so, it usually contains sharp criticism of the conditions then. “Czech cinematography is now in a period when there is nowhere to go for idyll and nostalgia,” concludes Fila.36

36 Fila, K. (n.d.). Nepřekonatelná propast nostalgie. Retrieved from https://www.advojka.cz/archiv/2016/16/neprekonatelna-propast-nostalgie

55 CASE STUDY

5 Case study

As a case study to observe the impact of global cinema flows on Czech film, I chose Kolja (Kolya, directed by Jan Svěrák, 1996), which is the most commercially successful film in Czech history – in part, because the film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film and Golden Gobe awards, as well as having extensive international distribution. 37 Film critics also voted Kolja as the best Czech film made between 1990 and 2019. 38 "Twenty years since its creation, half of the nation has seen it ten times, the other twenty times," 39 commented journalist Jiří Peňás on the popularity of the movie in the Czech Republic. What makes the film special and how does it stand out is the focus of the following analysis.

5.1 Kolja

“A kind comedy about a man who thought he couldn't be worse off and had no idea he was experiencing the most beautiful moments of his life” – that is the introduction of the official distributor’s description of the Oscar-awarded feature movie created by Jan and Zdeněk Svěrák. The film tells the story of a philharmonic player and bachelor Louka who plays at funerals and agrees to marry a Russian woman called Naděžda for financial reward. Afterwards, it turns out that Naděžda intended to emigrate to Western Europe. Things get more complicated when she leaves, although she is not able to take her son with her. Sud- denly, an aging solitary cellist has to look after a little Russian boy – Kolja – who ends up alone in Czechoslovakia right before the Velvet Revolu- tion. The film includes a lot of funny moments as well as the bittersweet

37 Kolja, přelomový snímek. V čem všem byl první? (2016, April 25). Retrieved from https://radiozurnal.rozhlas.cz/kolja-prelomovy-snimek-v-cem-vsem-byl-prvni- 6233612 38 Ceny české filmové kritiky 2019. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://filmovakritika.cz/ceny/ceny-ceske-filmove-kritiky-2019/ 39 Peňás, J. (2017, March 4). S Koljou na věčné časy a nikdy jinak. Retrieved from https://echo24.cz/a/wn7zj/s-koljou-na-vecne-casy-a-nikdy-jinak

56 CASE STUDY

ending: the boy and the musician have to say goodbye because the mother returns for her son. At the same time, Louka can go back to the life he used to lead – due to the political changes, he can now play with the philharmonic again. Zdeněk Svěrák’s screenplay, is according to some reviewers, based on the absolute sincerity and the perspective of real life – political and personal – in totalitarian Czechoslovakia. Such a perspective could never be imitated in Hollywood. The screenplay, together with other aspects such as the camera work of Vladimir Smutný or the music by Ondřej Soukup yet make the film extraordinary according to a recent review from 2019. 40 Even the overt commercial potential in the film could be perceived as a certain plus for Czech cinematography because it brings prestige and competitive ability, as Jiří Cieslar hinted in his review from 1996. 41 An- other newspaper review at that time highlights the view of the social reality of the period before 1989 without “the tense, glaring emotions and false pathos typical for most of pictures taking place in this turning point.” 42 A review written by Zdeněk „Sid“ Páral (who was at the time of the premiere living in the US) reflects his feelings towards the Czech film screened in America with the „original sound version with lousy subtitles“ but was nonetheless charming due to its tenderness and well captured small details. 43 American reviewers positively reacted to Kolja. Ed- ward Guthmann classified the film as light with a dreamlike quality, thanks to the ‘unseen fate’ that brings the protagonists together as well as the “gorgeous photography by Vladimir Smutny, who builds his palette

40 Kuchař, M. (2019, November 16). RETRO RECENZE: Kolja – Porevoluční symbol revoluce. Retrieved from https://ceskokrumlovsky.denik.cz/kultura_region/retro- recenze-kolja-porevolucni-symbol-revoluce-20191116.html 41 Cieslar, J. (1996, July 3). Kolja. Literární Noviny, p. 15. Retrieved from https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/94921-kolja/29535491075/4779-z-dobovych-recenzi/ 42 Vyprávění o Koljovi. (1996, June 14). Retrieved from https://archiv.ihned.cz/c1- 899473-vypraveni-o-koljovi 43 Páral, S. Kolja / Kolya, Filmová příloha deníku Neviditelný Pes (1997, 12 March) http://archiv.neviditelnypes.lidovky.cz/film/kolja/kolja.htm

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from gold, ocher, sienna and umber.” 44 Another American review by Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times saw Kolja as a crowd-pleaser, however, the emotional game in the picture never goes so far. 45 In February 2020, the results of a poll among film critics about the best Czech film shot after 1990 were announced. The winning film was Kolja. Some journalists were surprised by this choice, such as Petr Fischer who felt the film “deliberately and exemplary fulfills the prefab- ricated characteristics of a sentimental film, that is condemned to success in Hollywood as a specific type of emotional blackmail.” So success of the film over the Atlantic ocean is acceptable and the success of the filmmakers justified. However, Fischer points out that “something inappropriate is happening,” when Czech film critics (freed from the journalistic time pressure) have not gained a critical distance towards the movie. 46 Kolja was filmed in the middle of the 1990s. The previous Czech Lion winners at the time were the rock ‘n’ roll musical Šakalí léta situated in the 1950s, a bittersweet comedy Díky za každé nové ráno from the 1970s and ‘a fragile comedy’ Zahrada. In the year 1996 – when Kolja came to the cinemas – it was by far the most successful Czech film, but it was almost the only Czech film that people considered worth seeing in movie theatres. According to the data of The Union of Film Distributors at the time, the rest of the list of most-attended films (up to the 30th place) were solely American (except two British) films. 47

44 Guthmann, E. (2012, January 30). FILM REVIEW -- Charming `Kolya' Has Magic Touch / Child actor is star of Oscar-winning film. Retrieved from https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-REVIEW-Charming-Kolya-Has-Ma- gic-Touch-2827806.php#ixzz1wpxracEP 45 Thomas, K. (1997, January 24). A Heart-Tugger With a Czech Twist. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-01-24-ca-21479-story.html 46 Fischer, P. (2020, February 3). Komentář: Kolja jako nejlepší porevoluční film? S českou kritikou je něco špatně: Aktuálně.cz. Retrieved from https://magazin.aktualne.cz/kultura/film/kolja-ceny-ceske-filmove-kritiky-komen- tar/r~c8377b72467111eab259ac1f6b220ee8/ 47 Na co se chodilo do kina v roce 1996? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://kinomaniak.cz/navstevnost-filmu/rocni/1996/

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For the director Jan Svěrák, Kolja was his fourth feature film. He does not hide from the fact that he was directing a lot of advertisements in the first half of 1990s. As he admitted in another interview, Kolja helped him to “got out of this business and break free economically”. 48 As Felicia Chan notes, one of the main benefits for non-Anglo-American films awarded at the Oscars is plainly material. Reach even a small per- centage of the US market and it can be, for a foreign film, a great economic reward. (Chan, 97-98). After Kolja's success, Svěrák received a number of offers to direct from Hollywood including three ultimately successful films; Chocolate, Good Will Hunting and The Cider House Rules. Nevertheless, he refused because “as a hired director, he would not have the film under control.” Svěrák admitted that the motives of the Academy could be political, namely due to the fondness for the Czech Republic after the fall of communism. 49 In an interview from February 2020 about Kolja with Jan and Zdeněk Svěrák, the film critic Mirka Spáčilová raised the issue of search- ing for foreign themes and imitating world patterns in filmmaking.50 However, as Spáčilová surmised , the Oscar for the best foreign films usually go to the movies that she classifies as ‘genuinely national’. Jan Svěrák agreed on that national aspect with Spáčilová and outlined that the Eng- lish producer assented to make the ‘Czech film about a Russian boy’ while thinking about all the ‘bijáks’51 that would follow. “We were also

48 Kadlecová, K. (2019, October 24). Režisér a scenárista Jan Svěrák o svém románo- vém debutu i o ukradeném Tmavomodrém světě. Retrieved from https://www.reflex.cz/clanek/rozhovory/98026/reziser-a-scenarista-jan-sverak-o-svem-roma- novem-debutu-i-o-ukradenem-tmavomodrem-svete.html 49 Kolja, přelomový snímek. V čem všem byl první? (2016, April 25). Retrieved from https://radiozurnal.rozhlas.cz/kolja-prelomovy-snimek-v-cem-vsem-byl-prvni- 6233612 50 Spáčilová, M. (2020, February 4). Kolja se mohl jmenovat Radost pro cel. Retrieved from https://www.idnes.cz/kultura/film-televize/kolja-film-tricetileti-jan-sverak- zdenek-sverak-rozhovor-ceny-ceske-filmove-kritiky.A200203_122943_filmvi- deo_ts 51 ‘Biják’ is a Czech colloquial expression derived from a world biograph, therefore a cinema, nowadays used as a name for a cinema as well, but also a ‚proper film‘

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reconciled that Kolja is an uninteresting film for foreign audiences because they cannot understand our history. But it succeeded because he was sin- cere, authentic, and bringing a message from elsewhere, and at the same time it contained real emotions that they understood everywhere, understood as the story of a father and son,” . Jan’s father Zdeněk added, that they were even afraid of the reaction of the locals. From Halada’s signs of a commercial film (Halada, 71), the concept of private sources applies here; namely the film is made, without any support from non-commercial organizations or funds; it has a simpler, entertaining character, which are very often comedies; it has an intelligible and simple theme, with an emphasis on a well-arranged storyline; formally these films are traditional, using conventional narrative structures; the aesthetic level of these films corresponds to the taste of the ‘average Czech viewer’. Jan Svěrák's business plan to become independent and to have full control over his work was successful also thanks to the cooperation with the British producer Eric Abraham. The latter’s ability to raise funds for demanding projects was absolutely crucial for the creation of most his later films as well (starting with Kolja) (Šimíček, 11). However, the money for Kolja was provided from diverse sources; as the opening cred- its inform us, the film was made with the financial help of the Czech Film Fund and surprisingly, the French Ministry of Culture. The producers were Jan Svěrák and Eric Abraham, under the auspices of the companies Biograf Jan Svěrák, British Portobello Pictures and the French company Pandora Cinema, whose main activity was in film trade (this information is stated in the letter of Jan Svěrák published in a book of screenplays 3x Oscar pro český film, 154).The film was coproduced by Czech Television and CinemArt. With a cost of CZK 28 million, Kolja earned nearly CZK 45 million in the Czech Republic alone and approximately $5,770 million worldwide. 52 In a time when Czech movie theatres suffered from a lack of customers, more than 1,3 million people went to see Kolja in film theatre. Regarding sign which Halada attributes to commercial films created in 1990s, it is very problematic to apply them to Kolja; the characters are not simple, even though some are entertaining in some way, for example Kolja’s ‘babushka’ Tamara. Even so, the characters appear to be real,

52 Kolya. (1996, May 15). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116790/

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even though stereotyping is apparent in the character of the intransigent social worker Zubatá (whose name in Czech is associated with Death- personified), and the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ State Security agents who interro- gate Louka with regard to his fake wedding. Also the storyline seems to be well-arranged, using a conventional chronological narrative struc- ture. This also contributes to the realistic portrayal of the story – a real- ism which is praised by Jon Boorstin, who considers it as a crucial key to Hollywood film aesthetics. On the other hand it is understandable, as the director wished for a intelligibly narrated story, which is not necessarily a sign of Hollywood power. 53 It is also worth mentioning that Kolja became a pioneer in Czech film public relations. Its introduction was accompanied by a detailed press release for journalists, the so-called press kit, published for the first time in the country. The contracted screenings abroad also contributed to the better recognition of the film across the Czech borders. 54 All in all, Jan Svěrák adapted methods of Hollywood but he managed to transmit those methods less painfully than some others, especially later Czech filmmakers, do. Moreover, he sensitively tells a story that has two elements that are so characteristic for popular Czech films, specifically its sense of humor and its reflection on the (recent) past. The film keeps to the path of a ‘national’ film but is narrated in a way that is more approachable to foreign audiences. What is groundbreaking was the international reach of the film and its marketing strategy. The timing of the movie was also favorable – namely the contemporary sympathy of the western world for a motion picture from the former Soviet bloc. Winning the international awards such as the Oscars or Golden Globes certainly helped for its distribution abroad as well. To the present time, Kolja is still commercially the most successful Czech film abroad. The success at home was huge as well, but later on, it was surpassed by other films.

53 Interestingly, Boorstin’s book about film storytelling was translated to Czech by Jan Svěrák, who met the author shortly after Kolja premiere. Twenty years later Svěrák admits in the preface of the Czech edition of the book, that it has influenced him greatly when making his later movies. 54 Kolja, přelomový snímek. V čem všem byl první? (2016, April 25). Retrieved from https://radiozurnal.rozhlas.cz/kolja-prelomovy-snimek-v-cem-vsem-byl-prvni- 6233612

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However, Kolja brought to Jan Svěrák a good reputation and opportunities – he was able to make Tmavomodrý svět, so far the most costly film in Czech history. 55 Even though, Jan Svěrák avowed in one of the inter- views the post-Kolja films were not made so easily: the pressure to make another Oscar film is so strong and all the latter films are made with such high expectations, which is in the upshot restrictive and paralyzing. 56The reason why Kolja is so important for this thesis is how it opened the door to the production of ‘blockbuster’ films produced in the Czech Republic where previously, such opportunities or thinking was nonexistent.

55 Nejdražší české filmy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://kinomaniak.cz/nejdrazsi- ceske-filmy/naklady/ 56 Na plovárně: Jan Svěrák. (2010, June 27). Retrieved from https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/1093836883-na-plovarne/210522160100020-jan-sverak

62 DISCUSSION

6 Discussion

The extension of globalization across the world in the second half of the 20th century (along with the Cold War) encouraged the cultural imperialism theory to develop. Even though not perfect in explaining the trends occurring at the time in non-American societies, it nonetheless raised many important questions about global flows of culture. Proponents of the modernization paradigm within cultural imperialism viewed the ex- pansion of the American models as a beneficial opportunity for the rest of the world (Gilman, Rothkopf). Other academics, were more sceptical about the future of American global leadership (Legrain, Zakaria). Economical and political connections with the US brought US culture to most countries in various capacities, even when they were communist at the time. Discussions about national and transnational cinema began as part of these considerations. National cinema as a concept became associated with the national state, but such a definition turned out to be problematic with the increasing understanding of blurring and ‘leaky’ borders (Higson). Moreover, the state-controlled cinema began to decline over the last 25 years. This does not mean that contemporary cinema does not express certain patterns of lifestyle or values that are important and connected to particular cultures and countries (Shaw). However, the growing power of economic considerations in the production of film soon prevailed as a leading concern within the dynamics of film production more broadly. As for the film industry, Hollywood, represents the ultimate success in film, which translates to global cinema as the highest benchmark for success. Hollywood is like nothing else in terms of the pinnacle for success and all that is related to it. However, the reach of Bollywood is transnational, compared to global Hollywood. (Thussu). The success of global Hollywood results from the economic dominance of America after the First World War and the big conglomerates that drive its development, managing to launch successful deals with movie theatres over the world. Hence, local film producers were forced to react. The state protectionist practices have not been shown to be effective enough, as filmmakers have to compete at the local level as well (Elsaesser). One of the solutions seem to be to try to copy Hollywood’s working procedures to maximize

63 DISCUSSION

the profitability. This especially fits to small nations such as the Czech Republic. The trend of imitating the American motion picture culture is not entirely new at all, implied in the former chapters about American culture in Czechoslovakia and film before and during communism. With only a little exaggeration, the very beginnings of Czech film production were influenced by the American model – for example, from where would the Czechs get the idea to shoot a western in 1911(Hudec, 13)? 57 Eight decades later, the transition from a socialist economy brought a complete change to the state-owned film industry. Czech films still can get limited state support but it usually does not cover all costs. Coopera- tion with television channels and with foreign production companies also brought pressure to get a return on the investments. (Holý, Halada). In accordance with the McDonaldization concept, which seeks to stream- line and produce the elements for a more efficient business model, such developments can entail a decline of quality, namely caused by the appeal of predictability and obvious calculability in the creative process. At the same time other related attributes can improve, including the possibility to work with world-famous stars, a professionalization of marketing strategies, and the possibility to build a reputation abroad, all of which can consequently help to develop the broader cultural diplomacy of the state. This brings us to the issue of cultural imperialism, which seems to be outdated today. The case study suggests that global flows have and do have an influence in Czech post-communist films. Kolja represents of course only a small fragment of this phenomena, but due to its great success it seems to be the best example. The mixture of commercial and artistic aspects in the films of Jan Svěrák were analyzed by Šimíček, who concludes that Svěrák learned how to skillfully implement foreign commercial methods into his art. Even though such methods permit creative freedom, there is a danger that the artists following this path can submit to a power that has nothing in common with their own ideals (Šimíček, 81). My conclusions are similar; Svěrák managed to find a balanced way to make a film that truly displays Czech poetics, and that is simultaneously appealing

57 A 10-minute long silent film is called Sokové (‘Rivals’) and besides the director An- tonín Pech, there are no records about the creators. Sokové (1911). (n.d.). Re- trieved from https://www.csfd.cz/film/223484-sokove/prehled/

64 DISCUSSION

to indigenous and foreign audiences at the same time. The emotional level, so important in Hollywood films (Berliner) is in Kolja perfected, in spite (or maybe because) of the bittersweet ending of the film. The movie is realistic in the way it shows the 1980s Prague or characterizations of ‘average Czech people’ – in this point the story looks believable, even though it is not obviously the same kind of spontaneity like in the New Wave films from 1960s. Svěrák’s success is reflected in the many awards this film received, and in the views of Czech film critics. Even though Svěrák’s critics point out the calculations present in his work, he is nonetheless viewed as one of the first Czech directors that adapted to new market conditions without a loss of their good reputation in the eyes of the audience. The global flows in cinema, can have, according to Higson, three types of effect on local film production; since the Czech film culture still shows some signs of Czech aesthetics and mentality, we can exclude the complete destruction of the local culture. The two remaining viewpoints seem to be more accurate. The first one is that positive audience reaction to foreign aspects can have a liberating and democratizing effect on the local film industry. The second possibility is the modification to local conditions of those standards coming from abroad. Those two approaches are blending in the case of the Czech Republic. The democratization and liberation of the film industry is apparent, while the positive audience reaction is not so unequivocal. Based on findings about Kolja, I agree with Higson on the trend of modification and frames of reference that are close to the indigenous audience. However, filmmakers in the Czech Re- public can sometimes experience mixed reactions while implementing new methods of shooting and storytelling. New methods tend to be con- fused with some kind of propaganda and due to historical experience, any kind of agitation (political, commercial or even religious) usually ir- ritates the historically constructed sensitivity of Czechs to it.

65 CONCLUSION

7 Conclusion

The Czech film industry has undergone tremendous change since the 1990s. Obviously, no film industry is an island entirely of itself. The changes are noticeable within Hollywood too – in the artistic and material ways it conducts its business of creativity. The dearth of original stories, new methods for shooting films and distribution including online platforms, as well as the audience’s proclivity to download its products illegally – filmmakers everywhere face those challenges nowadays, and Hollywood is no exception. Still, many filmmakers all over the world see in Hollywood an inspi- rational example rather than a warning – and the Czechs are no exception. The long era of communist rule made the American pattern for cultural production even more attractive. Part of contemporary Czech audiences and almost all of the Czech critics are disgusted by a certain patterns that have appeared in Czech films (mostly comedies) after 1989 – its commercialization, including product placement, simple stories for ‘simpler people’, unrealistic and predictable plots, boredom and in some cases even awkwardness are caused by the fact that what is working in Hollywood production seemingly can – and should – be so easily imitated in the Czech environment. The increasing number of female-character centered romantic comedies are especially notable (some critics call these life-style comedies) in recent years only confirm this tendency. So, this area could be an interesting field for more detailed research. However Czechs do like American films, and they want – and at the same time they do not want – the Czech films to be the same. Thanks to my friends and family and from reading many internet discussions, I have come to the conclusion that there is something strange about the Czech cinema; people often called for what they saw as true ‘quality’ in film, which they typically associated with films made during communism or films from the 1990s such as Pelíšky or Kolja. Contemporary Czech filmmakers therefore have to compete twice as hard – with the memory of the great films from the past and with the economic and creative superiority of foreign production today. It is true that from time to time, some refreshing impulses have come – Kolja, Tmavomodrý svět or more recent pictures made through foreign

66 CONCLUSION

coproduction such as Nabarvené ptáče or Tiché doteky. But even those films with mastered aesthetics inspired by global trends stand somewhere in-between – they are not Czech in the way they are shot, nor global because they tell a story relevant mostly to the Czechs.

67 NAME INDEX

Name Index

Alford, 36, 71 Chan, 59, 72 Aronovici, 20, 24, 71 Chaplin, 37 Arsenaultand, 17 Iordache, 37, 73 Bates, 43, 71 Jackson, 15, 73 Bednařík, 27, 71, 77 Jan Svěrák, 59, 62, 80, 81 Behlil, 37, 71 Kádár, 42 Berliner, 35, 71 Karadžos, 49 Berman, 19, 71 Karaszewski, 34 Bilík, 41, 42 Klos, 42 Bláhová, 47, 50, 79 Klusák, 49 Bočan, 50 Knapík, 40, 41 Bond, 30, 71 Kodet, 48 Boorstin, 35, 61, 71 Končelík, 43 Boyd-Barrett, 16, 17 Kooijman, 25, 71, 74 Bren, 44, 72 Kopal, 43, 44 Cameron, 51 Koura, 27 Carlsson, 16, 19, 72 Kozák, 28, 74 Castells, 17 Kroes, 18, 22, 74 Cieslar, 57, 79 Legrain, 24, 74 Clements, 28, 72 Lipský, 50 Coover, 53 Loisen, 37, 73 Dvořáková, 39, 73 MacBride, 73 Elsaesser, 16, 32, 36, 38, 63, 71, 72 Machatý, 40 Fila, 55, 79 Machovec, 29 Fischer, 58, 80 Marhoul, 44, 46, 48 Fjellestad, 24, 72 Marling, 27 Forman, 37, 43 Masaryk, 2, 26, 48 Gilman, 19, 63, 72 Maxwell, 36, 74 Goldsmith, 37, 72 McBride, 15 Goodwyn, 20, 21, 72 McLaren, 53, 80 Grombíř, 45, 73 Menzel, 50 Gudova, 18, 22, 73 Miller, 36, 37, 74 Guthmann, 58, 80 Mináč, 49 Halada, 44, 45, 60, 64 Mirrlees, 18, 24, 75 Hames, 39, 40, 54 Mitrochin, 29 Hampl, 53, 73 Noam, 17 Havel, 26, 39, 40, 41, 73 Noble, 22 Hesmondhalg, 15, 17 Nye, 15, 18, 75 Heydrich, 52 O’Byrne, 30 Higson, 32, 34, 63, 73 O’Regan, 37, 72 Hogenauer, 46 Olmer, 50 Holland, 48 Ondříček, 48 Holý, 46, 52, 64, 80 Orság, 43 Horníček, 39, 73 Parafianowicz, 25, 26, 27, 75 Horský, 50 Páral, 57, 82 Hřebejk, 48, 49 Pehe, 54, 75 Hudec, 39, 40, 64, 73 Pells, 17, 20, 21, 36, 75 Hudeček, 49 Peňás, 56, 82 Chalupová, 49 Plicka, 40

68 NAME INDEX

Pooch, 23, 29, 75 Szczepanik, 44, 77 Přibáň, 49 Ševčík, 48 Ptáček, 43, 73, 75 Šimíček, 77 Ptáčková, 44, 76 Škvorecký, 50 Remunda, 53 Šlechtová, 29, 77 Ritzer, 21, 30, 76 Thomas, 32, 36, 58, 71, 82 Rothkopf, 23, 63, 76 Thussu, 13, 33, 34, 63, 76 Rovenský, 40 Tomlinson, 17, 76 Shaw, 32, 33, 63, 77 Truman, 28 Schiller, 15, 77 Tunstall, 16, 25, 76 Sirový, 51 Van Audenhove, 37, 73 Skard, 21 Večeřa, 43 Skopal, 28, 76 Vejdělek, 51 Smoljak, 55 Wagnleitner, 27 Smutný, 57 Ward, 37, 72 Sommerová, 53 Weyermann, 34 Soukup, 57 Wilder, 37 Spáčilová, 51, 59, 82 Winton, 49 Stead, 21, 72 Woo, 37 Stillman, 21, 30, 76 Zakaria, 24 Strach, 51, 82 Zanuck, 36 Svěrák, 49, 51, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 64 Žídek, 19, 77 Zdeněk Svěrák, 55, 71

69 REFERENCES

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