Who knows if the Havel brothers Miloš and Václav would ever have imagined that eighty years and approximately 2500 films after the construction of their film studios, they would still be considered to be European Hollywood. The original aim of the two brothers was indeed exactly that; to construct a cinema city inspired by the Californian model in the outskirts of Prague. Despite a troubled history, shaped by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938, and then by the communist regime, Barrandov studios remain a benchmark in the world of cinema, even to the extent that the great Roman Polanski, who directed Oliver Twist there in 2005, labelled it as the best film studio in the world. But despite such a problematic history, never lacking in obstacles, how did it manage to get to this point? Decades after the nazi period and the Czechoslovakian nová vlna of the 1960s, what does Barrandov represent today, and what makes it so special?
The journey of the famous studio began in 1931, when Václav Havel (1897–1979), the father of the ex-president of the Czech Republic, came up with the idea of constructing a luxurious residential complex five km from Prague.
It was his brother Miloš (1899–1968), the brain behind the Lucerna building near Wenceslas square around ten years earlier, who suggested the inclusion of modern film studios in the complex. The name Barrandov was chosen for the area, deriving from the name of the French geologist Joachim Barrande, who in the Nineteenth century worked in the zone, which was famous for its rich mineral presence.
The film studies, based on designs by Max Urban, were completed in the end of 1932, few months before the filming of the first motion picture made there: Vražda v Ostrovní ulici. The studio grew and expanded very rapidly, and eventually was even able to boast the employment of around 300 permanent workers and the production of 80 films a year, attracting even foreign producers.
Already clearly the best equipped Central European studio, the first major innovations were to take place with the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, whose main intention with the studio was to expand it and elevate it to the levels of the studios in Berlin and Munich.
Under the vigilant eye of Joseph Goebbels, the Reich’s Propaganda Minister, the studio started to undergo a notable stagnation in production. In the hardest years of the war however, the site became the perfect environment for the production of the propagandist material of the Nazis. Besides, Barrandov studios were seen as a more secure location than the German counterparts which were under the constant threat of allies’ bombing. All this in spite of the various attempts of sabotage by the Czech workers who were sympathizers of the Resistance, who tried to slow down Nazi productions as much as possible.
The extremely rigid German censorship forced the Czech directors to experiment more with film-making, often with comedy, a genre with no connection to the dramatic events of the period. Consequently, the Czechoslovakian comedy genre flourished.
One cannot neglect the overall impact of the German occupation, particularly with regards to the quality of the facilities. It is sufficient to bear in mind that the three large sound stages created for the Goebbels are still used today for the TV series “The Borgia”, a large scale international production, which has recaptured the world’s interest in Barrandov, thanks also to the launch of film incentives in the Czech Republic in mid 2010.
The studios practically remained undamaged and in good condition after the Second World War, but the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazis, anticipated yet another transition period: communism and the nationalisation of Barrandov and the (smaller) studio in Hostivař. The change marked the beginning of another type of censorship, which lasted forty years. A period however, which was briefly interrupted in the 1960s, an era full of creativity with the explosion of the nová vlna films from Miloš Forman, Ivan Passer, Věra Chytilová and Jiří Menzel. Menzel’s Closely Observed Trains and Forman’s The Fireman’s ball are among the many masterpieces made in those years, both of which were highly awarded. The critical success of the nová vlna put Czechoslovakian cinema into the international spotlight, maybe for the first time, and with it Barrandov studios.
The most wonderful chapter in the history of Czechoslovakian cinema ended in August 1968, with the end of the Prague Spring. Forman, after his American exile, came back to his homeland in 1983 to film his masterpiece Amadeus, considered by many to be the most important film ever made in the studio’s history.
The most difficult years were to arrive following the fall of the Berlin wall, the Velvet Revolution and the privatization of the film studios. Having put an end to the obstacles imposed by the censorship during communism, different problems were to arise. Without the public funding for Czech film production the studio risked definitive closure in 2000. Fortunately, the decrease in national productions was compensated by the increase in foreign ones, most of which were American. Since 2006 many have been incited to work here due to the “Max”, an enormous sound stage suitable for larger, more spectacular productions. According to the sales representatives the complex is the largest in Europe, with its 4000 square metres. This construction, which along with the other nine sound stages in Barrandov and the four in Park Hostivař, in addition to the competence of the Czech technicians, is one of the main reasons for which films such as Casino Royale, Oliver Twist and Mission Impossible IV were filmed in Prague. Petr Tichý, the sales director of the studios in the South-west of the Bohemian capital, has often underlined the professionality of the Czech crew besides the fact that “it is incredible what the Czech people can do with cinema”. Regarding the costumes, the props and weaponry it remains peerless in the Old Continent, making it ideal for historical films of any period. It is rather ironic that the so-called European Hollywood, now mainly attracts directors from Hollywood.
But what is it that Barrandov has which you cannot find in Hollywood? Nobert Auerbach, the ex-producer of both studios, and author of the book “From Barrandov to Hollywood”, highlights the difference between the two environments. “Working in Hollywood is more of a commercial operation”, whereas Barrandov is typically European, where film production is above all “a cultural activity”. Basically, an environment which is much loved by directors such as Polanksi, who have also worked in California.
With a history affected by Nazism, the arrival of communism, normalization and obviously the Velvet Revolution, you could say that the destiny of Barrandov has always had a dramatic link with the destiny of Czechoslovakia and eventually, the Czech Republic. After a tormented past it seems that the situation is more stable now, even though there are those who fear that sooned or later Hollywood will start to make more films in Budapest, a cheaper alternative. Barrandov nevertheless, remains Prague’s ace in the hole, and the proof indicates that there is a bright future ahead, as the recent success of the Borgia demonstrates. Besides American productions, Tichý has also mentioned the possibility of making it a European centre for co-productions with other countries from Central and Eastern Europe. The workers ask if it will continue for another eighty years? Why not?
by Lawrence Formisano