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Oratorio for Prague. --- Director Jan Nemec. Released 1990. V 3810. 26 min.
The jacket blurb for this video in Hillman's media collection describes Oratorio as "one of the most powerful documentaries ever made and a unique document of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968." According to Renata Adler of the New York Times, the film "was begun as a documentary about the liberalization of Czechoslovakia and then simply continued when the Russian tanks moved in." It contains "the only filmed footage of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia" and "never-before-seen scenes from the Prague spring before the invasion." The pre-invasion footage depicts the integration of Czechoslovak youth into the 1960s hippie cultural revolution. Jan Nemec is one of Czechoslovakia's best known directors of feature films. Discussion Questions: 1. A documentary movie, like an essay or article, usually has a point to convey through the images and script. What do you think is Jan Nemec's main point in this short? 2. How does Nemec portray the "Prague spring"? 3. Why do you think the Soviets found it necessary to roll in the tanks? 4. How does Nemec use the theme of responsibility toward the end of the film? (Consider that the movie was actually made in 1990 and not in 1968, and was thus influenced by the Charter 77 movement and dissident writings of the 1970s and 80s, such as those of Vaclav Havel.) | |
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