Protektor

Czech Republic, Germany – Czech – 98 minutes
Director: Marek Najbrt
Screenwriter: Robert Geisler, Benjamin Tuček, Marek Najbrt
Cast: Marek Daniel, Jana Plodkova, Jiři Ornest, Simon Schwarz

Styistically pleasing, the Czech film “Protektor” dances around the traditional Nazi/Jew themes during World War II to show a rocky marriage that gets seemingly worse as the war continues. While the use of lighting and coloring is top-notch, the plot’s excitement surprisingly dwindles as the war rages on. The main characters are both obnoxious and ignorant of their surroundings and each other. Their bickering does little to connect with the fascinating aspects of their relationship, and instead makes the plot more confusing. They both turn a blind-eye toward the bigger issues they face and lack any believability. The film had potential at first, but throwing in random affairs, binge drinking and bicycles does little to connect to the audience.

The film starts off in 1942 with a Hitler quote. Being half-Jewish, for some reason, World War II movies fascinate me; automatically I am expecting a terrific World War II portrayal of Prague and a sweet romance film about a husband protecting his Jewish wife, like the description depicts.

Although the description refers to what this movie could have been about, the movie chose to focus on less interesting aspects and left much to be desired.
Hanna (Jana Plodkova) is a beautiful young actress who is just beginning to make a name for herself within the industry and to audiences. Her simple husband Emil (Marek Daniel) is a radio reporter who is jealous of his wife’s admirers and fame. Emil seems to still care for Hanna, but Hanna has deeper desires to run off with another actor. Once the Nazis takeover Prague, Hanna is forced to leave her job as an actress and go into hiding because of her Jewish heritage. Emil is promoted to be the main radio announcer for Hitler propaganda, in return for keeping his wife’s identity hidden. The situation sounds simple and romantic enough, but the idea of isolation is too much for the egotistical Hanna to accept.

Hanna pouts over losing her job more so than potentially losing her life to Nazis. She is beyond whiny, continuously having self-pity. She sneaks out of her house during dangerous hours to go to the cinema, a very public place. But according to Hanna, “the cinema is quite a safe danger.” Okay, so why is your husband risking his life for you to go out and be stupid?

She puts on her blonde wig to get out of the house and pretends to be her old self. Plodkova succeeds at making the audience dislike Hanna, whether that is the goal or not. She is completely selfish and ignorant to the amount of danger she puts Emil and herself in. She becomes jealous of her husband’s newfound broadcaster success, much like he was jealous of her movie star success.

But Emil is equally appalling. He is no longer in love with Hanna towards the end, but he feels obligated to keep her safe, despite her continuous obstructions to his rules. He is a pathetic character and gets more and more unlikable with his boosted ego as the film continues. For instance when he is approached by a fan he says, “I’m no star but my voice is a different story.” To be contradictory, he obviously starts to like to hear himself talk once he gets Hanna to stop talking about herself.
The director Marek Najbrt is known for his professional audiovisual projects. Luckily, he still used these ideals in this film. In fact, the film’s only saving graces are the advanced visuals and audio alignment. The use of lighting is naturalistic. There is a great use of soft light to enhance Hanna’s angelic appearance, despite her opposite personality. The sound is also fitting. It is never unintentional or meritless when it is used. The use of color or lack of color is appreciated as well. Hanna’s way of transforming with her blonde wig plays a great significance onto her insecurities. When she is putting red lipstick on, she feels like she belongs. When she is makeup-less, sitting in a closet waiting for Emil, she feels insignificant. Najbrt’s use of exploiting her characteristics in this way does more to advance the plot than the confusing undertones or emotionless dialogue.
There is a heavy symbolism involving bicycles for some reason throughout the movie. At the beginning, Hanna is on a stationary bicycle on a movie set. Later, there is a black and white montage of Emil and Hanna both on stationary bicycles. The montage sequence in particular was beautifully shot. It carried simplified music that complemented the action well. It evoked the idea that these two, like the bikes, are never going anywhere. Their marriage, like the bikes, is in stasis regardless of Emil’s protection or Hanna’s need for him.

In contrast, the most confusing part of the movie is when Emil leaves a lover’s house and steals a bicycle; on the news, he hears about a man who tried to kill the Reich Deputy Protector and escaped on that exact bike. This last sequence seemed so rushed, yet it was crucial for the story. Without this man alive who knew of Hanna and Emil’s situation, she would have been sent to a concentration camp with the other Jews. For Emil to possess the bike would have meant grave danger for both of them. I felt like these scenes must have been important, but their delivery did little to portray the severity at hand. These sequences were bogged down with distractions of other plot twists like Hanna’s relationship with a theater operator, Peter. Peter did nothing to advance the story besides boosting her ego and keeping her in danger, despite Emil’s life-risking job to keep her safe.

“Protektor” took an interesting story and made it about a self-contained woman and her over-bearing husband. While it would have been refreshing to see a different way of living during a Nazi-filled Prague, this film dismissed that opportunity. The main characters gave the audience very little to latch onto or to sympathize with, regardless of the dangers they faced. The film’s attempt to introduce lackluster minor characters failed as well. If the plot played out as fluidly as its visual presence, it would have been more appealing.