31/10/2023 - Slovakian filmmaker Štěpán Pech begins talking about an artist and ends up talking about a man

Artist Ján Mančuška died in 2011. Was he known? To some, yes, but Štěpán Pech’s doc — winner of the Best World Debut award at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival — is all about discovery. About people discovering an artist, about children discovering their father. Or at least trying to do so, because it’s already there in the title: with someone like Mančuška, You Will Never See It All [+see also:
trailer
interview: Štěpán Pech
film profile].

That’s quite alright, actually, as Pech makes sure you see just enough. An intriguing creator, his protagonist emerges as a tragicomic figure: struggling with a debilitating illness, Mančuška is someone in a perpetual race against time. He knows he is running out of it, quickly, and he has papers to prove it. But he just keeps on working and living, and laughing. Oh yes – throughout this entire period, and with such horrific knowledge hovering over his head, he was still laughing somehow. 

“He was playful and serious, conceptual but very much focused on the viewer’s experience, emotional and rational. He would philosophise and play guitar in a band, he felt responsible for the state of the world but never was a straightforward activist,” the debuting director told Cineuropa, assuring he could “continue on for much longer.” Whether this little film will gain him more fans is unclear — while exhibited at Centre Pompidou or MoMA, Mančuška’s very peculiar work probably needs more explaining — but it’s also a family drama. As his two children set out to find out more about the man they never got to know (he passed away at 39) Pech’s documentary becomes more universal and more affecting. 

“We don’t really remember anything,” the siblings openly state. They still have to deal with his legacy, however, figuring out if his work should generate some money or be accessible to all. At least in their case, their late parent left enough traces for them to follow. There are artworks, articles, in some cases they can actually hear his thoughts. Other people, dealing with a similar loss, are not as lucky.  

Then again, it’s not just about grief, as his humour is celebrated here too. From absurd projects — like painting over body parts one cannot see — to burning his own creations, and friends mentioning his tendency “to meddle in things,” this Bratislava-born troublemaker wasn’t exactly giving in to sadness and resignation. Oddly enough, a film about death ends up being mostly about life. And about that often-repeated yet ignored truth that all we have is now. 

“No rush,” someone says to his young daughter when discussing her future plans, which is rather ironic, given that this is the exact opposite to what her father experienced daily. It’s interesting that as we continue to criticise the culture of hurry, Mančuška was all about running, not walking. It seems worthwhile to run along for a little while. 

You Will Never See It All was produced by Marek Dusil (Mannschaft) and co-produced by Anna Mach Rumanová.