18/02/2022 - BERLINALE 2022: Adam Koloman Rybanský delivers an atmospheric comedy about fear, prejudices and stubbornness, set in the sleepy Czech countryside

Central and Eastern Europe have been pointed with a finger in recent years for the local rise of nationalistic tendencies and political conservatism, so in line with the topicality and side by side with successful titles from the region such as The Citizen [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and Let There be Light [+see also:
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interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile], Adam Koloman Rybanský’s debut Somewhere Over the Chemtrails [+see also:
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interview: Adam Koloman Rybanský
film profile], which premiered in Berlinale's Panorama section, continues to explore this issue and its consequences. Fortunately, the director chose the comedy genre for his take on the subject by leaning on the Czech New Wave tradition, hence more than a political film, we are offered a satire of manners where the environment and collective habits happen to be the real cherry on top, while the participants and their deeds are rather products of the times they live in and the ambience they are surrounded by.

In order to overcome provincial boredom in their small town where the peak of joy is the ongoing consumption of beer pints all day and night, volunteer firemen Standa and Bronya lead their small battles with external menaces such as the toxic effects of chemtrails, for instance. Things, however, seem to get serious when during the Easter open-air celebrations on the town square a van hits the fountain and the driver runs away leaving behind the suspicion of a terrorist attack. Bronya, who since the death of his wife has been suffering from depression, spurs fears further as he feels on a personal mission to protect what is left from the good old world as he knew it. Celebrations are seized the next day, terror has spread and even when evidence proves that the cause of the accident is not a foreign threat but ordinary drunkenness, Bronya does not let the truth be revealed so that people stay on alert. This gets him into a conflict with Standa who, despite being prone to supporting his friend’s beliefs and secretly spraying his pregnant wife’s belly with vinegar against the poisonous chemtrails, is relatively sane.

Rybanský, who wrote the script as well, is clearly mocking the rise of conspiracy theories, while actually sympathising with those whose minds have been eclipsed by media hysteria. At the same time, the tone gets slightly more serious when it comes to xenophobia and the widespread fear of refugees, however the deep reasons for that have not been really researched, apart from some references to internet browsing as the ultimate source of misinformation. Here and there, the characters appear to be too dime a dozen, while messages are bolder than necessary, but there’s an overall charm in the timelessness they are inhabiting, as well as in the heartwarming ode to friendship of the ending.

So near yet so far from the brilliance of the Czech absurdist humour, Somewhere Over the Chemtrails is still a good and enjoyable piece of cinema owing to the excellent choice of actors - experienced Miroslav Krobot as grumpy Bronya and expressive Michal Isteník as hesitant Standa – and the smooth cinematographic touch of cameraman Matej Pinos (Circus Rwanda [+see also:
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film profile]) who manages to capture mundane beauty in a seemingly random land and townscapes.

Somewhere Over the Chemtrails was produced by Bratři and co-produced by FAMU, Czech Television - Česká televize, FreeSaM and MagicLab, is being distributed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia by Bontonfilm and sold internationally by Pluto Film.