French screening of Waves offers shortened cut: How 1968 film is being sold to western audiences
The Czech film Waves (“Vlny”), about the events of the Prague Spring, the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops, and the broadcasting of Czechoslovak Radio in 1967 and 1968, was released in French cinemas. Unlike the version shown in Czechia, the French version of the film is shorter, and cinemas are screening it under the title “Radio Prague—Waves of Revolution”. But why?
“We were students at the time. We were interested in politics and I was personally interested in what was happening behind the Iron Curtain. I can feel all those feelings - even the disappointment that for some imperialists things are not changing even today,” Bernard, an attendee of the French screening, tells Czech Radio.
A few days ago, journalist and presenter Nicolas Herbeaux, who is half Czech and half French, interviewed Waves director Jiří Mádl, who won two Czech Lion awards for his film—for directing and screenplay—on the French radio station France Culture.
Herbeaux told Czech Radio that he experienced the film all the more keenly because his parents experienced the events of 1968 directly in Czechoslovakia:
"My mother was small; she was only ten years old at the time. These are all stories she told my brother and me when we were little, but they remain vague. I learned most of it from reading, listening, or watching movies. I'll be going to Prague soon, so I'll ask my aunt to tell me all about it again. I want to know how my family experienced these moments."
At the time of the Prague Spring, Milan Weiner headed the Editorial Office of International Life. The film also features other radio journalists such as Věra Št'ovíčková and Jiří Dientsbier, who became the first non-Communist Foreign Minister after 1948.
While the film, which was screened in Czechia, ran for 131 minutes, the French version is about a quarter of an hour shorter. Why? Michèle Halberstadt, founder of ARP Sélection, which is distributing the Czech film in France, explained the decision to Czech Radio:
"Frankly, apart from the opening scene, which is spectacular, I don't think the longer version of the film adds anything extra. I would say it is more complicated and less accessible. It's not easy to sell a Czech film about the events of 1968. And if it were two hours and twenty minutes long, it wouldn't be possible at all. It's very complicated. As soon as a foreign film is over two hours long, it becomes very difficult to include it in the program."
The French media and reviews disagree on the film. While French radio praises the amazing direction, cinematography, sets, and lighting, Télérama describes the film as a political drama that does not come up with anything revolutionary. Halberstadt addressed some of the negative reviews,
"I am a little disappointed by the way the French press has reacted to the film. I think it was too harsh. On one hand, you read that the subject is interesting; on the other hand, especially older journalists, will tell you that they already knew about these events. Others point out that the way it is handled is too ordinary. I do not agree with that. I really like the film."
In late January, the film also won the Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film from film journalists around the world.
