11/07/2025 - Slovak director Peter Bebjak charts the rise and fall of a Czechoslovak pop singer and examines state-sanctioned stardom behind the Iron Curtain

Slovak filmmaker Peter Bebjak has built a versatile directorial career straddling the line between mainstream and arthouse cinema. From the political thriller The Line [+see also:
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interview: Peter Bebjak
film profile] to the historical drama The Auschwitz Report [+see also:
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interview: Peter Bebjak
film profile], Bebjak has consistently explored individuals entangled within institutional frameworks, often situated at psychological or moral junctures. His latest work, Duchoň, which has premiered in the Special Screenings section of the 59th Karlovy Vary IFF, a stylised retro musical biopic, follows a similar trajectory, tracing the rapid ascent and tragic unravelling of “the biggest talent of his generation”, Karol Duchoň (Vladislav Plevčík), a Czechoslovak pop singer whose fame proved both enabling and corrosive.

Dubbed the “Slovak Tom Jones”, Duchoň is currently experiencing a cultural resurgence in Slovakia. Bebjak’s film reconstructs his trajectory from a small-town vocalist to a leading entertainer whose career was shaped by the expectations of the public and the patronage of the Communist Party, which facilitated his international appearances behind the Iron Curtain. Based on The Earth Remembers, a stage play by Róbert Mankovecký, and adapted for the screen by Jiří Havelka, the film unfolds as a series of vignettes. This episodic structure sharpens the portrayal of Duchoň’s meteoric rise and the pressures he faced, interspersed with renditions of his best-known songs, all unfolding amidst the fast-paced rhythm of a bohemian life cut short.

Shot by cinematographer Martin Žiaran, Duchoň adopts a stylised visual palette, drawing on the saturated colours of 1970s and 1980s retro pop. The production design references the aesthetics of period television studios, while theatrical staging is employed in performance sequences and montages. The brisk pacing moves through major milestones in Duchoň’s career, with a cursory glance at his personal life, including his relationships with his father (Gregor Hološka), supportive mother (Agáta Spišáková) and wife Elena (Anna Jakab Rakovská), whose initial encouragement is gradually worn down by the strains of fame and his alcoholism.

While the movie functions effectively as a vehicle for Duchoň’s songs, it avoids becoming a straightforward tribute to the singer’s legacy. Rather than delving into the psychological dimension of his decline, Duchoň favours a plot-driven approach, structured around a clear arc of rise and fall. The film foregrounds the tension between talent and the limits of state-sanctioned stardom, aligning with Bebjak’s broader interest in individuals navigating external systems. Although it touches on the darker sides of fame, its tonal register leans more towards comedy than psychological drama, while incorporating numerous references to local pop culture.

Designed to attract both older and younger generations, Duchoň is a biopic for a broader domestic audience. Its appeal, however, remains largely local, with limited resonance beyond the Slovak and Czech borders. Despite gesturing towards a Faustian tale, that of a singer who becomes one of the totalitarian regime’s cultural emissaries while battling his own demons, the film’s core focus remains on fame and conformity within a distinctly national and period context.

Duchoň was produced by DNA Production (Slovakia) and DNA Production (Czech Republic).