We Have Never Been Modern

Showings

The Main 2 Mon, Apr 15 1:45 PM
The Main 2 Tue, Apr 23 7:10 PM
Film Info
Accessibility:HI
Captions:SUB
Festival:MSPIFF43
Original Title:Usvit
Festival Programs:Breakthrough
LGBTQ+ Currents
Release Year:2023
Runtime:117 min
Country/Region:Czechia
Slovakia
Language:Czech
Slovak
Print Source:LevelK
Trailer:https://vimeo.com/853678257
Tags:Drama
Mystery
LGBTQIA+
Thriller
Cast/Crew
Director:Matej Chlupácek
Producer:Matej Chlupácek
Maja Hamplová
Cinematographer:Martin Douba
Screenwriter:Miro Šifra
Editor:Pavel Hrdlicka
Composer:Simon Goff
Principal Cast:Eliska Krenková
Miloslav König
Richard Langdon
Martha Issová
Milan Ondrik
Ladislav Hampl
Luboš Veselý
Marián Mitaš
Iveta Dušková
Viktória Petrášová
David Hártl
Anton Šulík
Ján Jackuliak

Description

The discovery of a dead intersex infant amidst the rubble in the newly built factory town of Svit in 1937 sends shockwaves through a society fixated on only one kind of progress. This masterfully-crafted drama about privilege, prejudice and gender identity features a memorably tart-tongued heroine in pregnant Helena (Eliška Krenková), the beautiful young wife of slick factory manager Alois (Miroslav Konig). Helena, who dropped out of medical school, is serving as a nurse for a few hours each day at the factory. As she follows up on her own theory about the dead infant with her former mentor, and confronts the fears and biases of her new social coterie, her illusions about the happy life that awaits her soon perish. The smartly-written film encompasses a character study, a marital drama and a detective mystery, while also dropping hints about the historical disaster soon to come. –Alissa Simon