{"id":572,"date":"2019-09-14T00:18:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T22:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.pokojvdusi.sk\/?page_id=572"},"modified":"2019-09-14T00:21:02","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T22:21:02","slug":"a-word-from-the-director","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/a-word-from-the-director\/","title":{"rendered":"A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Theme and Setting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \ntheme and setting of Soul at Peace are purely Slovak.  Despite this, the\n film transcends the geographical borders of its creation and appeals to\n viewers abroad as well.  It was my feature film debut but I hope that, \nbecause of my experience directing documentaries, I was able to fully \nexploit my previous experience in the telling of this story.

Genre <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather\n than trying to precisely capture the reality that is typical for \ndocumentaries, my intention was to bring to the viewer a creative and \nunique reflection on the times we live in. The film strives to reflect \nthe paradoxes of the period directly following accession to the European\n Union and illustrate the contrast to national traditions.
The film \ntells a story about people living in Slovakia, a small country in the \nheart of Europe, at the beginning of the 21st century. The Slovak people\n are at once brooding and proud, and it is this pride, which does not \nallow them to show their emotions. Therefore, everyone has their own way\n of solving their personal dramas. In this story each character bears a \nshare of the guilt. We all created our own unique, isolated system that \nhelped us survive the years of communist dictatorship. And today it is \nharder and harder to break out of this system of relationships and \nstructures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\n shot the film in \u010cierny Balog, in a place where the mountains are \npicturesque, but their steepness clearly parallels the locals\u2019 tough \neveryday life. On the other hand, through the character of Peter, we \nshow the dramatic contrast between the village and a fast-growing big \ncity that rapidly absorbs all negative and positive aspects of life, \ntypical of West European cities. Both the village and city struggle to \nfind their identities under the new conditions of our Central European \n“Carpathian capitalism”. This issue is rather specific, yet highly \ninspiring for citizens of Western Europe. My intention was to maintain \nthe authenticity of the settings with minimum embellishment and to \nprovide the viewer with a real feeling of the “here and now”.

Style and Form<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\n seems as if the steep hills in this region have protected a tradition \nthat never fades. An urban visitor is impressed with the beauty and \nromance of the region but does not see the everyday drama and often \nunbelievable stories that take place behind the fences and doors of \nordinary houses. Behind every door you would find a tradition of \npatriarchy and poaching, but also bonds of life-long friendship that are\n so rare these days. The visual aspect of the film is not dominant – it \nunderlies and accentuates the storytelling. Shots of the picturesque \ncountryside alternate with scenes where the camera moves gently and, \njust like an observer, watches the authentic story which unfolds unseen \nbehind the front door.

Casting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n most important criterion was to choose actors that would be authentic \nin their roles. We have four dominant male characters, all of them \naround the age of forty. They all come from the rough, mountainous \ncountryside and their faces are untouched by male grooming products. We \ncan see every triumph and failure in their faces. Rather than choosing \npopular faces I gave priority to excellent performances by actors that \nmay not yet be that famous.  For the actors, each character is in fact \nvery complex and never one-dimensional.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theme and Setting The theme and setting of Soul at Peace are purely Slovak.  Despite this, the film transcends the geographical borders of its creation and appeals to viewers abroad as well.  It was my feature film debut but I hope that, because of my experience directing documentaries, I was able to fully exploit my Continue reading <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/572"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573,"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/572\/revisions\/573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokojvdusi.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}