Original title (SK): Vlny (Waves)
In the face of rising media surveillance and censorship, Waves takes place in the days leading up to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. Out of this atmosphere of paranoia, two brothers provide an anchor to everyday life: Tomáš, conformist and domestic, versus Pavel, fiery and revolutionary.
As Tomáš begins working for Československý rozhlas Praha (CS radio Prague), he and his journalistic colleagues are soon faced with a dire dilemma: how far are they willing to go to protect the truth? And what power do they have against an oppressive regime?
With a percussive soundtrack and rich, earthy coloring, this period thriller blends real historical footage into scenes shot for the film. With the threat of a known ending looming from the beginning, a tight script with gripping characters and sweeping emotions nevertheless elevates tension throughout its entire runtime.
This tale of dissent against a repressive state brings up resonant themes with today’s political climate, a powerful reminder of the strength in community and the heroism of the ordinary.
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Boy, did I like the movie! It’s not 100% historically accurate but close, and it conveys the vibe of the era really well. (No, the lack of TVs in the movie is not an error, they were too expensive for almost everyone back then.)
Regarding the text:
a radio station
There was pretty much just one, Československý rozhlas Praha (CS radio Prague) at 638 kHz (it would use that frequency, or later 639 kHz, between cca 1935 and 2021, and its Liblice transmitter is featured in the movie). So more appropriately, the radio station.
I pulled the descriptive copy here from the online festival program and just updated it with the radio station details. Thank you for both the context and the film endorsement! I’m fairly certain this doesn’t yet have a distribution deal in the US and, from the looks of it, is something that we should probably be watching.
You’re right, it very effectively criticizes (Soviet) communism, imperialism and authoritarianism. So much so that some amateur critics online theorize it was made on request by the pro-Ukraine government, but the popular sentiment is still very positive.
