All My Good Countrymen (Všichni dobří rodáci)

ALL MY GOOD COUNTRYMEN

Story and Screenplay.

Starring.

Music.

Performed by Conducted by.

Art Director Film Editor / Sound.

Costume Design.

Make-up Set Design.

Production.

Director of Photography.

Directed by.

THERE COMES A DECISIVE MOMENT IN EVERY MAN'S LIFE.

MAY 1945

Billions of years ago.

Our beautiful world was born...

A dark and dead place,

No place to call home...

Whirling waters gave it life.

Cell produced cell,

then created flowers, fruit and primitive life.

Then came man, evolved from apes.

Man, the greatest creation and master of all nature...

And what happened next? What happened next?

And what happened next?

Man set off to into history,

Proudly marching on.

He encountered war, which brought him pain.

And he said: “Enough is enough!”

He said: “Enough!” He said: “Enough!”

And what happened next? What happened next?

Red armies from the east came to set us free,

Thank you for freedom and peace! Forever grateful we will be.

In the name of Beneš, In the name of Stalin...

Onward marches man! Forward! Forward!

Praise the Lord.

All thanks and praise to the Lord.

Oh Holy Mother.

Let us zealously sing.

And worship the Princes of Heaven...

Let us start from the beginning.

These two rascals are the sons of the butcher Machač.

One night, after celebrating the sale of a cow

he drove his motorbike into a hay wagon.

Since then, his wife's been called 'the Merry Widow'.

No one in our village is known by their real name.

There are so many Machač"s, Jiříček's and Palata's.

Everyone has a nickname so people can tell each other apart.

This one's called Lithpy, because he lisps,

can't pronounce 's', and makes this sound when he talks: 'vlf.

Thief! Bring it back!

Just you wait!

It's got to be something bigger, a stag or a man.

František is a farmer.

The war raged through his field.

He has to plough it all over again.

He loves ploughing and does it well.

Franta Lampa is a tailor.

He's called 'Lamp' because of his passion for lamps,

lanterns, torches, lights...

You aim at his head. I'll aim at his arse, it's smaller.

Give it to me! I'll get you!

Come here, you rascals!

Brats! Bastards!

Halt! Scared you there, didn't I?

It's me, Lithpy!

Elegant, or what?

- Are you hungry? - What have you got?

A cake.

They scared the pants off me!

Here's a souvenir.

I'll take care of this.

In those days, there were seven friends:

Jožka, Lampa,

František,

Joza Trňa, a bricklayer,

Janek Fafka, a small farmer,

Očenáš...

and Bertin, a newcomer, to this small village from Prague.

They say that behind every Czech stands a devil with a sack.

Up you get.

Get ready!

- What's going on here? - None of your business.

Those brats of yours will end up on the gallows! - Give it a rest.

Take cover!

I'll make a pretty big hole!

- My mouth's full of sand. - I can't hear a thing.

How can you hear with that cap covering your ears?

That was some bang!

Are you hurt Franta?

I'm not hurt, guys. I just shat myself.

Zášinek, the second richest farmer after Kurfiřt.

A widower. His Jewish wife was taken away by the Germans.

He prefers music to his fields.

They say he is descended from a gypsy baron

who travelled through here, and played the fiddle beautifully.

He fell in love here and maybe left something else behind.

In our valley lies a bridge

I know it's every beam.

A robin sang to me yesterday.

Telling me to take care as I cross.

A friend walked with me.

And we stood there together.

While we waited for the pub to open.

We gaze across the water.

Let's go, boys.

When music was heard in the hall.

We were stood by the river.

Everyone likes to have.

A pint of beer with a good, frothy head.

It's even better to drink together.

We can sing around the table.

The clarinet and the accordion.

Play on till morning.

When music was heard in the hall.

We were stood by the river.

Everyone likes to have.

A pint of beer with a good, frothy head.

It's even better to drink together.

We can sing around the table.

The clarinet and the accordion.

Play on till morning

I'll put a few dandelions round your neck, you old bull.

You'll look like a Hawaiian cow.

Just like a real one.

We'll make a lovely beast out of you.

There are some things you only need two people for.

EARLY SPRING 1948

The action committee will decide

who will be excluded from public life.

Politics will cease to be mud-slinging and will become a matter of honour.

Gather your wits about you.

There is evidence that reactionary forces,

once defeated, are again beginning to rear their ugly heads.

It is permitted to sell to or obtain from a person

a maximum of 1kg honey.

If a greater quantity of honey is transported,

it must be accompanied by a written permit.

When we overcome the consequences

of last year's poor harvest,

our factories will again supply the market with consumer goods.

Standards of living will improve again.

For the Czech Crown is one of the most stable currencies in Europe.

That wild, restless Bertin became Secretary of the Action Committee.

- Hello, Mr Mr Vigoň. - What is it?

A letter. Sign here.

I hear you're about to get your teeth bashed in.

- What? - A good beating.

Why?

- Because you've joined them. - Just sign this, Mr Vigoň.

The organist Očenáš became chairman of the local Communist Party.

The farmer Zejvala became the chairman of the cooperative farm.

The foreman Máčala became the local council secretary.

They've taken the reins, with all the ensuing consequences.

The world was thus divided into two.

Who are they after this time, I wonder?

When the tide turns, they'll get the axe.

Axe? You wouldn't even be able to lift it!

Good morning.

Kurfiřt, the richest farmer in the area, has to leave his farm.

They took everything. It came like a flood.

His farm would be turned into a cooperative.

If my farm was just a bit bigger than yours,

it'd be me, not you.

And don't make a mess of it like you have with your own home.

We'll manage without your advice.

Don't call me when the place gets infested with rats!

We'll show you what we're made of!

Giddy up, girls!

This is going to be quite a ride!

You could build a whole cottage with wood like that!

Let's go and see if there are any bottles left in the cellar.

- There's nothing there. - We'll find something.

I don't sell meat, I sell paper.

The butcher is called Rabona

because of his strange personal and physical characteristics.

With one blow of his fist,

he can kill a calf, or a man at the village dance!

This will be the salon.

Here you can work with the seamstresses.

This is the toilet.

At home we have to cross the yard or go straight to the manure pile.

I must try this.

Just try it.

We know that Romanians swing about in trees.

The roof will hold for another hundred years.

It's the roof that matters.

It's clean everywhere, no mice. I hope you'll be happy with it.

Let there be light. Spring, summer, autumn, winter.

This'll be like hell now.

- And get some lanterns. - No way, this isn't a cabaret.

A room full of lanterns.

It won't do you any good, making friends with the organist.

Why?

You might be sorry when things change.

He's going to hang, anyway.

The future of our trades is at stake...

- Cake! - ...all for the state!

Don't think that by scuttling over to their side,

they'll leave your house alone. They'll take it anyway.

- Why would they take it if it's ours?! - I wouldn't worry about that.