Servants
Director: Ivan Ostrochovský
Country: Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland
Year of Production: 2020
SynopsisThe year is 1980. Michal and Juraj are students at a theological seminary in totalitarian Czechoslovakia. Fearing the dissolution of their school, the tutors are moulding the seminarians into a shape satisfactory to the ruling Communist Party. Each of the young students must decide if he will give into the temptation and choose the easier way of collaborating with the regime, or if he will subject himself to draconian surveillance by the secret police.
From director Ivan Ostrochovský, co-written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (IDA, SMALL AXE), Marek Lescák and Ivan Ostrochovský, SERVANTS received its world premiere at Berlin Film Festival 2020 in the Encounters competition. More InfoReviews
"amazing visual compositions... Pure evil permeates this brief, 80-minute film, whose cold visual brilliance reminds me of the recent movies of Pawel Pawlikowski... There is a chill of political fear."
"Hard-to-shake... the dread never lets up in Ivan Ostrochovsky's slim, cold arthouse noir... you taste a corrosive drop of Le Carre, so too a trace of Pawel Pawlikowski"
"Echoes of Pawel Pawlikowski's Ida and Cold War... incredible compositions in Academy ratio... Servants confirms the director as a major talent"
"stylish political thriller"
"brilliantly crafted, atmospherically enveloping... arresting"
"assured and chillingly stylish... spins a story which is of utmost relevance today"
"a fascinating idealogical chiller"
"tightly scripted... stunning visual allure"
"a series of profound images that speak privately to the viewer's own emotional experience"
"highly atmospheric film experience... masterful and impressive"
"mesmerising... a riveting ripple of suspense... a profound exploration of how totalitarian ideas rattle historical foundations... while it vividly recreates a pivotal point in history, the film also has a lot to say to our post-truth era."
"A visually arresting black-and-white delight... Its core performances by Samuel Skyva and Samuel Polakovic are unflinching - they're subtle, precise, and very clearly the result of tight direction by a film-maker whose singular vision of the story is carefully adhered to... a solid sense of atmosphere, dread and strong craftsmanship do it tremendous service"
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