UCHO (THE EAR) / CERT 12 / DIRECTOR: KAREL KACHYNA / SCREENPLAY: KAREL KACHYNA, JAN PROCHAZKA / STARRING: RADOSLAV BRZOBOHATY, JIRINA BOHDALOVA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Everything you do and say is probably being monitored; if not by GCHQ, the NSA or some other shadowy government agency, then certainly by Alexa, Siri, or whatever cute name they’ll no doubt give that bit of Facebook wizardry that gives you adverts for things you’ve been talking about seconds before. This is all our own doing, of course, and it’s an unfortunate part of living in a connected world, a trade-off for having our devices know us better than we know ourselves.
Imagine, though, that this was thrust upon you. Imagine that you were happily living a simple life in eastern Europe only to wake up one day and find yourself being ground under the jackboot of authoritarian Communism (or, alternatively, enjoying the benefits that can only be achieved by truly working towards an international Socialist workers’ paradise). Imagine that everyone could be a possible state informant, and that nowhere was safe from the eyes – and especially the ears – of the Party.
This is where Ucho finds us, in the Czechoslovakia of the late 1960s, after a softening of Soviet influence during the Prague Spring brought swift reprisals from Moscow, with tanks rolling into Prague and any liberal reforms rolled back with them. Ucho’s principals are Ludvik, a high-ranking official in the Czech Communist Party, and his wife Anna. Returning home from a function, they discover that their home has been broken into, with their spare keys missing and the phones lines dead. Suspecting they are under surveillance by Ludvik’s bosses, they descend into a spiral of paranoia, which exposes the frailties of their relationship and their personalities.
Ucho was the penultimate collaboration from Czech New Wave filmmakers Karel Kachyňa and Jan Procházka, previously best known for coming of age dramas with a psychological edge. Although Ucho is primarily a political film – its thinly-veiled criticism of the Czech government would see it banned before release – it is its deeply personal nature that makes it such an engaging drama and valuable slice of social history.
It’s very easy to take an overview of this period of European history, especially now that it’s been consigned to the past (although whether what we have now is any better is… well…), but Ucho reminds us that people just like us were caught up in circumstances not of their making – although just what Ludvik might have done to raise to his position within the Prague hierarchy is open to question.
The sanctity of their home and the quiet life they’ve built for themselves is further thrown into chaos by a late night visit from some of Ludvik’s comrades, and from there the story takes a turn. Radoslav Brzobohatý, as Ludvík, and Jiřina Bohdalová, as Anna, are superb in a genuinely funny and unsettling portrait of life under observation.
The Blu-ray from Second Run contains some fascinating extras, with a filmed introduction from critic Peter Hames and a commentary by The Projection Booth podcast, as well as a brilliantly unnerving short film from 1969 by Czech filmmaker Vlastimil Venclík.
Special features: Filmed introduction, commentary from The Projection Booth podcast, short film The Uninvited Guest, illustrated booklet
