Svítalo celou noc

For a film made to order, there is pleasantly little talk of communists and heroic comrades in general (of course, the main heroes are party members, but at least no one points that out - there is even a mention of General Patton's army in the film, and at the end there are only Czech flags flying everywhere in the streets, no red flags) and offers an interesting dramatic patch with the always likeable František Němec and my favorite Jana Gýrová. If the filmmakers had dropped the tired scenes of fighting on the barricades (which they couldn't) and if they had dropped the plot line with the constantly approaching Russian soldiers (which they also couldn't) and the whole film had taken place inside the gymnasium, it would have been even better. By the way, the music by Petr Hapka, which is almost heroic in places, is worthy of attention. (2012.01.05)