Rebelové(Rebels;Rebelove)^A) is a Czech film that takes place in 1968. Rebelové is a romantic dramedy musical. It doesn’t appear to be known about almost at all outside of Czechia,^B) hence this article.

The more time passes, the more I realize that this film is both ridiculously stupid but impressive in the strangest ways. First of all, do I recommend watching it? Probably just once, to experience it…but otherwise it probably isn’t worth it.

Rebelové suffers from the standard issues that most Czech productions face: lackluster acting; odd script;^C)) weird direction and editing; clear lack of budget; etc.

Reportedly, the director of the film had little previous experience with films…and mostly filmed music videos. After you watch this film…yeah, that checks out. Though the choreography here is actually not that great.

One of the strange positives of this film is that it portrays the 60s in a way that doesn’t feel artificial in the same way that many 60s nostalgia films nowadays do. The other notable upside is the music: unusually for Czech music, it’s actually good. I found out this was because it isn’t Czech in origin, but it’s mostly American music that was translated and adapted for the film. So if you’re used to those originals, it’ll sound really weird.

Anyway, time to move onto the plot: it’s not that great. Though the concept here is really interesting. Like very very interesting, though the execution falls short.

Basically, we’re following two groups of people: teen girls (18-19) and young adult guys (early twenties). The teen girls are about to graduate Czechoslovak highschool, so they’re preparing for it. The young adult guys are army deserters who are intending to escape the country, with the ultimate goal of reaching America. Yeah, bet you weren’t expecting that from a romcom.

The two groups meet by chance and shenanigans ensue. Notably, the lead girl and lead guy end up being true love and whatnot. In any other context, they’d end up happy together. While the guy group is waiting for their opportunity to run, the Warsaw Pact Invasion ends up happening, which ends up making life incredibly difficult for everyone involved.

The film ends with the lead guy getting arrested and chucked in prison, while the lead girl and her family emigrate. The rest of the guy group manages to escape. Yeah, this film has a serious downer ending. Though it’s all set up perfectly.

The film takes place in 1968, which was a very important year in Czechoslovak history, and follows the tradition of important years in Czechoslovak history either having a 6 or 8^D).

More specifically, it was the year the Warsaw Pact Invasion occurred. This happened after there were attempts at reforming Czechoslovak socialism (Prague Spring; ‘Socialism with a human face’) and the Soviet Union did not like that at all. Though, apparently, there’s a small chance the invasion occurred due to a misunderstanding. That’s not directly relevant.

Right after the invasion, most of the reforms were rolled back.

• TMDB