2024-03-24 13:22:18
Director Jan Hřebejk started shooting the conversational comedy drama from a journalistic environment. His first feature film to be released in theaters after a seven-year hiatus will be called State of Emergency. However, it does not deal with the recent pandemic, but with misinformation and lies. The script was written by the author of the theater performance of the same name, journalist Milan Tesař, who for years was associated with the Reflex weekly and the Zelený Raoul comic strip.
The heroes will be played by Ondřej Vetchý and Tatiana Dyková. The film is produced by the company Bio Ilusion, and will be released in cinemas by Falcon in the fall.
“Vetchý is absolutely ideal for the role of a person in the field, and Táňa has a wonderful feeling for the transition from a serious position to a comedic one. That’s why it works so well for me,” says Jan Hřebejk, according to whom the film, in addition to fake news, deals with a topic that is current at all times precisely the relationship of the central couple. This is connected by work for the radio.
Actors Jordan Haj, Ondřej Vetchý and Tatiana Dyková are pictured on the set. | Photo: Jakub R. Špůr
The story is about one jealous exit that overflows into extreme professional failure. Vetchý plays Karl Beran, a foreign radio correspondent in the Middle East. He flies privately to Prague for a tour, because based on an anonymous source, he suspects his girlfriend of cheating on him with a young colleague from the editorial office.
The next day, the protagonist wants to fly back. But as soon as he arrives home and checks on the woman, a revolution breaks out in the fictitious Kambur, which he unprofessionally left. Return flights are cancelled.
In order to live up to his duties as a reporter, the experienced professional begins making mystifying reports. He simulates the uproar of the Arab revolution on kitchen appliances in his Vinohrady apartment and pretends to be at the scene of the conflict. The contributions are so highly watched that Czech Radio decides to send a support team to the reporter. The hero finds himself in a trap and must choose: either confess to the media fraud, or start faking his own kidnapping or death.
Ondřej Vetchý simulates the commotion of the Arab revolution on kitchen appliances. | Photo: Jakub R. Špůr
Tatiana Dyková portrayed Vetché’s partner, also a radio editor. “I really enjoy working with Honza Hřebejk,” he says. “We rehearse a lot before filming, but at the same time there is room for improvisation, which I like. The adrenaline rush is great, even if it doesn’t suit every actor,” she adds.
The third essential character, the radio student, was portrayed by the musician Jordan Haj. Jaroslav Plesl, Jaroslava Pokorná, Jana Plodková, Bořek Slezáček, Jiří Havelka or Sylvie Maryško Koblížková, known as Uzlinka z Pelíšková, will appear in other roles, Idnes.cz reported.
The story was first seen by the audience of Prague’s Theater Na Fidlovačce, where the play State of Emergency by Milan Tesara premiered in January 2019. It was directed by Tomáš Svoboda. The production is no longer on the program, but the recording can nevertheless be viewed in the paid Dramox video library.
The film adaptation was produced by Miloslav Šmídmajer. “I’ve always liked Italian films about serious topics that were treated with comedic exaggeration. And this is also the case with State of Emergency. The viewer will be entertained, but at the same time will leave the cinema hall with fundamental questions in their head,” says the producer, who wanted to work with Hřebejk already years. “I enjoy watching how he can go into the depth of the script. His films Pelíšky or We have to help each other will forever be among the best that have been created in our country,” he adds.
The film with a budget of around 15 million crowns received support from the State Cinematography Fund, which will contribute two million crowns to it. “Social satire dealing with very current topics such as disinformation is based on an original framing scheme, well-written dialogues and a visually and dramatically rewarding environment,” stated the evaluators, according to which the combination of screenwriter Tesař and director Hřebejk promises a comedic charge as well as intelligent criticism with a more general overlap .
Fifty-six-year-old Hřebejk directed over 20 feature films, a number of television works, theater productions, documentaries and commercials. His most popular film Pelíška was seen in cinemas by over a million viewers, and it is still one of the most visited local films after 1989.
The titles Pupendo, Horem pádem, Sakalí leta, Shameless, Teddy Bear, We have to help each other, Beauty in Trouble or Teacher were also successful.
The native of Prague studied screenwriting and dramaturgy at FAMU. Together with Petr Jarchovský, Hřebejk wrote the screenplay for Ondřej Trojan’s film comedy Pějme půsní dohola from 1990. It was Jarchovský who became Hřebejk’s court scriptwriter in the following years. The last time they sent the Horticulture trilogy to cinemas, a family saga from 1939 to 1959, which predates Pelíšké.
Hřebejk occasionally directed in the theater, among others on the Prague stages Pod Palmovkou and Na Jezerce. Recently, he has mostly worked for television. In addition to the award-winning miniseries Rédl and the TV film Veterán, which was released shortly before the pandemic, he filmed the crime series A Case for the Exorcist, Live Targets and Boží Mlýny, a comedy drama from a university setting Background of events, and most recently the Slovak Iveta about the journey from the Roma ghetto and Vítěz about a prime minister who quit politics difficult to return to normal life.
Video: The reactions to the series surprised me, said Hřebejk
Relationships between pedagogues and female students are not our wet dreams, director Jan Hřebejk defended himself on DVtv last year against criticism of the series Background of events. | Video: Daniela Drtinová