Kolya
Director: Jan Svěrák
Distributed by: Space Films
Released: May 1996
Country: Czech Republic
What was it like living behind
the Iron Curtain before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990? In Ida,
we saw Poland to be a black-and-white joyless enterprise; in The Lives of
Others, East Germany is a police state where nothing is private and everyone is
subject to government scrutiny. Now with Kolya, we turn to Czechoslovakia
just a couple of years before the Velvet Revolution of late 1989, which spelled
the end of the communist system there.
One thing we know is the
government didn’t have much of a sense of humor there. Milan Kundera wrote a novel set early in the Cold War called The Joke, about a guy in 1950’s
Czechoslovakia who unadvisedly makes a smart-alack crack about the government,
written on a postcard for all to see.
That mistake led to banishment from the party and a few years working
the mines.
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| Louka giving "cello lessons" |
I guess things lightened
up a bit by the late 80’s when this movie is set, because by the time Louka, a 55-year-old bachelor played by the guy who wrote the screenplay of this movie, Zdeněk Svěrák, makes a joke displeasing to the government,
it only costs him his job playing cello for the Czech Philharmonic. But don’t
worry too much about Louka. He makes money playing at funerals
(hitting on his female co-musicians) and giving music lessons (creepily hitting
on—and scoring with!—a young blonde student). Still,
he always seems strapped for cash. A
friend offers him a deal: Marry a
Russian girl trying to stay in Czechoslovakia for some serious dough. Louka, reluctant at first, agrees. He marries the girl, who comes along with a
chain-smoking aunt an a little boy named .
. . Kolya.
 |
| Big Daddy: A bit less classy |
He’s told this set up
will only last for a short period of time, but two things happen—the wife
splits for her boyfriend in West Germany, and then the aunt splits—permanently. As in dead. She dies.
So now we have a
womanizing bachelor who doesn’t speak Russian stuck with a kid who doesn’t
speak a word of Czech. Louka doesn’t
have a clue how to parent, and Kolya is lost away from his Russian
home. Like a cross between Kramer vs. Kramer and Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy, Louka and Kolya’s bumpy road
from semi-strangers to father/son is the heart of this film. This isn’t an outright comedy, but there are
amusing moments, like the reaction of Louka and his mother when Kolya is happy
to see troops from the hated Russian Army simply because they’re Russian.
The story here is nothing unique, and Louka is not all that different
 |
| Kramer vs. Kramer: A little more weepy |
The
Title: The name of
the kid. Kolya means “Of the conquering
army” in Russian.
 |
| Bad News Bears: A little more boozy |
The
Culture: Czechoslovakia
in the late 80’s may not have been East Germany or Russia, but we are reminded subtlety
and repeatedly that this is a communist state with an authoritarian government
and tangible restrictions to on its people's freedoms.
Agenda
Danger: Socialism is
socialism. If you’re an American who
felt the Bern this election year, it wouldn’t hurt to be reminded about how
this thing really works. The joy
expressed at the end of the film about the Velvet Revolution and the end of communism is portrayed as
very real, and shared by the oppressed and the oppressors alike.
Best
Picture that year: The
English Patient.
Rating: A feel-good movie to see. Maybe you won’t be thinking about it for any
length of time when you are done and maybe you wouldn’t put it into any kind of
Top Ten lists. But definitely an entertaining story with likable characters.
