From Karel Kachyňa, director of The Ear and Coach to Vienna, this landmark film views the end of WWII through the eyes of 12-year-old Oldřich. To him, the harsh realities of his home life and cruel rivalries with other boys seem more important than the retreat of the German army and the arrival of liberating Soviet forces.
Oldřich's imagination buffers his experience of the brutality around him, his fantasies and memories blur with all he witnesses. Powerful and expressive, Kachyňa’s lyrical film evokes a child’s-eye-view of the murky moralities of war, and established his reputation as one of Czechoslovak cinema's most formidable talents.
Long Live the Republic! is presented from a new HD transfer by the Czech National Film Archive, Prague, and includes a rare archival interview with Karel Kachyňa, an early short film by fellow Czech New Wave filmmmaker Jan Němec, and a booklet with new writing by author and expert on Czechoslovak cinema Peter Hames.
