A New Hyperion, or Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

director: Karel Vachek

original title: Nový Hyperion aneb Volnost, rovnost, bratrství

year: 1992

running time: 196 min.

synopsis

Through a mosaic of events, opinions, and goings on, Karel Vachek records the situation preceding the Czechoslovak elections in 1990. With subtle irony he juxtaposes various phenomena and on the screen portrays the surprising socio-political context of the incredible whirl of the first free elections after the fall of the communist regime. The director is preoccupied with the abundance of goings on in the various social events, political ceremonies, and populist shows, where he is interested in every seemingly unimportant movement or subtle gesture, which transform the film into a diaphragm lens between the apparent and the concealed.

biography

Karel Vachek (1940) creates multi-layered philosophical and social essays. In 2004, he published the book The Theory of Matter. Films: Moravian Hellas, 1963, Elective Affinities, 1968, New Hyperion or Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood, 1992, What Is to Be Done? (A Journey from Prague to Český Krumlov, or How I Formed a New Government, 1996, Bohemia Docta or The Labyrinth of the World and the Lust-house of the Heart A Divine Comedy, 2000, Who Will Watch the Watchman? Dalibor, or the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, 2002, Obscurantist and His Lineage or The Pyramids’ Tearful Valleys, 2011.

more about film

director:	Karel Vachek
script:	Karel Vachek
photography:	Karel Slach, Ivan Vojnár
editing:	Ľuba Ďurkovičová, Věra Čejková
music:	Jaromir Vejvoda, Bedřich Smetana
sound:	Ladislav Sedláček

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