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Vierka, or The Mystery of Family B’s Disappearance
Verdict: Culture clash fades prodigy
Film - Documentary - Czech Republic - 2005 - subtitles - 76 mins
London Film Festival 2006 - National Film Theatre - NFT3 - 19 & 21 October 06
12-year old Vierka Berkyová – sassy, exuberant, talented and hungry for fame - is discovered by Czech singer Ida Kelarová, who becomes passionate to develop her promising singing career. Taking the Roma family - Vierka and her mother and father - from a poor background in Slovakia, Kelarová ensconces them in her own middle-class filial nest in the Czech Republic.
Vierka sparkles in her new environment. Her parents become increasingly downtrodden by Kelarová’s insistence on learning new productive ways and budgetary prowess. Vierka and her parents disappear. Kelarová ponders on the talent she has lost - and what may become of the young, bright creature she took under her wing.
The film keenly observes the inherent differences between Kelarová’s lifestyle and Vierka’s Roma parents. Kelarová becomes increasingly frustrated and demanding. Vierka’s parents listen with only half an ear, paying absolutely no attention to her when she tells them (amongst other things) that spending half a week’s salary on fags is not a good thing. The colour and complexion of these two suggest that it will soon be more than a monetary issue. Big C looks a couple of hundred packs away.
The disappearance lacks lustre, coming late in the documentary. Writer/director Miroslav Janek seemingly traces the family with ease - which leaves little tension. What is interesting in the film is how different Vierka’s life could have been if she had stayed with Kelarová. Under Kelarová's guidance, Vierka blossoms into an intelligent, articulate and exceptionally talented girl on the brink of womanhood and fame. Taken away to a beige-grey backwater, and put into bars by her parents eager to earn fast bucks and local fame, she seems a very different person. Thwarted, and embracing Eastern European chavdom, Vierka becomes downtrodden - ogled by shell-suited bar dwellers eager to get their grubby little mitts on a fading prodigy. It's a classic example of nature versus nurture - and not a happy ending for the little pretty star.
Cast Credits: (documentary; people include): Vierka Berkyová. Ida Kelarová.
Company Credits: (Thanks to the Institute of Documentary Film, IDF, for credits, taken 9 April 08 from http://www.docuinter.net/): Director - Miroslav Janek. Producer - Richard Nemec, Verbascum. Screenplay - Miroslav Janek. Photography - Miroslav Janek. Editing - Tonicka Janková. Sound - Michael Mícek, Daniel Nemec. Involved TV Channel - Czech Television. World Sales - Verbascum. Screening copy - Verbascum. Country of Origin - Czech Republic, 2005. Statistics - colour / black and white, video, 76 min.
END
(c) Rachael Booth 2006
reviewed Saturday 21 October 2006 / NFT3, National Film Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
www.fringereport.com
