Film Archive

Four Suns

Czech Films 2011–2012 2012 / Čtyři slunce / Czech Republic 2012

Jára’s lost his job, his family is falling apart, and not only because he’s spending increasingly more time with a weirdo called Karel. The first Czech film to compete at Sundance tells the story of a family from a provincial town which longs for a better future but things just don’t seem to be going their way. Will they realise what has to be put right, before it’s too late?

Synopsis

"She doesn’t believe in it, Karel,” says Jára, when his close friend tries to encourage his partner towards a spiritist world view. What’s more, Jana doesn’t like Karel, and not only because her boyfriend spends too much time with him and doesn’t seem to want to grow up. He looks after his son from his first marriage well enough, but he won’t accept the consequences of having lost his job. Will the family manage to ward off the increasing tension, their unfavourable circumstances, and the apathy and distance everyone seems to be feeling? In his new film Bohdan Sláma again sides with socially unstable characters and, more than ever, he confronts them with issues of faith, which may provide a solution to a woeful situation, but it might also cause it to deteriorate. The characters seem unwittingly to be trying to break loose without realising exactly what situation they are in. The film betrays not only a profound understanding of its protagonists, but also of their ongoing quest for a spiritual anchor, the absence of which might be the root of anxiety for many of them.

About the film

105 min / Color, 35 mm

Director Bohdan Sláma / Screenplay Bohdan Sláma / Dir. of Photography Diviš Marek / Music Vypsaná fiXa / Editor Jan Daňhel / Producer Pavel Strnad, Petr Oukropec / Production Negativ, s.r.o. / Cast Jaroslav Plesl, Anna Geislerová, Marek Šácha, Karel Roden, Klára Melíšková, Jiří Mádl / Contact Films Boutique, Falcon a.s. / Distributor Falcon a.s.
www: www.ctyrislunce.cz

About the director

Bohdan Sláma (b. 1967, Opava, Czechoslovakia) is one of the Czech Republic’s most successful post-revolution directors. He graduated from Prague’s FAMU with the film White Acacias (Akáty bílé, 1996), and he now works externally at the school as a teacher. His film The Wild Bees (Divoké včely, 2001) won the Rotterdam and San Francisco festivals. A year later he filmed a segment of the story showcase Radhošť. Something Like Happiness (Štěstí, 2005) won the main prize at San Sebastian and brought Sláma Czech Lion awards for Best Film and Direction. The Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, 2008) was screened at the Venice IFF in its international premiere, and Sláma was included on Variety’s "10 Directors to Watch” list. The spiritual drama Four Suns is the first Czech film to compete at Sundance.