186. Servants; movie review

 

 

SERVANTS

Cert TBA

80 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

The point which resonates the most about the communist Eastern Bloc and its various state securities is that they existed during my lifetime.

When I visited the Stasi museum and prison in Berlin, I struggled to get my head around the notion that such misdeeds were happening while I had spent time in the city.

People found themselves reported by those who they trusted most and informants seeped into every corner of society.

During Ivan Ostrochovsky's Servants, trainee priests and their seminary come under the microscope.

It is set as recently as 1980, when Michal (Samuel Polakovic) and Juraj (Samuel Skyva) are theological students.

Religion and the communist party have always been uncomfortable bedfellows but the tutors try to shape their teachings in line with the demands of government.

However, the students are not as compliant as they might hope despite knowing that defiance will likely cause the wrath of the secret police.

Filmed in black and white, Ostrochovsky's movie gives a clear impression of how bleak life was behind the Iron Curtain.

It shows how merciless the communist system was in Czechoslovakia and how informants pervaded every element of society.

Forty years on from when this movie was set, it is almost impossible to contemplate such state domination or is it?

Then, the state relied on simple word of mouth to confirm suspicions.

Nowadays, they only need to look at internet histories to be able to track our every move. The scary thing is not that families, friends and relatives used to inform on each other - it is the fact that they no longer have to.

Anyway, Ostrochovsky portrays to great effect a cold and grim time in history when people were bumped of for very minor infractions of the Government's code.

Reasons to watch: A glimpse back to the intensity of the Eastern bloc

Reasons to avoid: Presumes quite a lot of knowledge

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? During the Stalinist trials of the 1950s, more than 6,000 religious people (some old and sick) received prison sentences averaging more than five years apiece. Between 1948 and 1968, the number of priests declined by half and half the remaining clergy were over sixty years of age. 

The final word. Ivan Ostrochovský: "We are all servants of some ideology or other. We are constantly under the influence of more or less visible powers, be they politics or religion, wealth or poverty. Whether or not we realise it, these powers control us, and slowly but surely, they transform our values and attitudes."

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