Forgotten Light

Father Holý, a young, easy-going and wholly good-natured priest, stands before a handful of his faithful flock in the derelict village church. He asks sarcastically: “Does God exist? Is it up to some committee to decide whether he does or not?” His question appears to encapsulate the stagnation of the Normalisation era, when everything, including the fate of church heritage, lay in the hands of party officials indifferent to past and present spiritual and material values. Holý knows that any battle against them or their minions cannot be won, and his helplessness and despair worsen with the gradual decline of a married woman with children whom he loves deeply. He feels lonely and worthless, yet he also has good people around him who, through their willingness and capable assistance, inspire both Holý and the viewers. Czech-American screenwriter Milena Jelinek shifted Jakub Deml’s novel of the same name to a period fifty years later. Although she didn’t experience the Czechoslovak Normalisation era herself, Jelinek’s vision of the all-pervasive deterioration of the time is accurate down to the last detail. Here Michálek proved himself an accomplished director with a sense of subtle testimony, enhanced by suggestive performances from Boleslav Polívka and the rest of the cast and by a cinematographic eloquence beyond words.