Story revolves around the Editorial Office of International Life of the Czechoslovak Radio. It works under the leadership of Milan Weiner, a journalistic icon. Other journalists include Věra Šťovíčková, Jiří Dienstbier, Luboš Dobrovský or Jan Petránek. Young Tomáš gets among them a bit by mistake as the work in the editorial office was the dream of his younger brother Pavel and Tomáš's main concern is to protect his brother. Little does he know that the local editors are watched by State Security (StB). Tomáš is forced to sign cooperation with StB if he wants to protect his brother who along with his classmates participates in illegal activity. Tomáš gets closer to journalists in the office especially with Věra which leaves him conflicted between concern for his brother's safety and his own conscience. When Warsaw Pact invades Czechoslovakia, he refuses to collaborate with occupants and helps journalists to broadcast uncensored information about the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops and call for passive resistance to the occupiers. He risks his own life to sustain broadcast as long as possible.
Delegation to the film Waves at the red carpet at the 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The film was directed by Jiří Mádl, who also wrote screenplay.[12] Film's budget was approximately 80 million CZK.[13] Mádl used historical film material for Waves and combined it with scenes shot for the film.[14] He was inspired for this approach by Peter Jackson's post-edited documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old.[15] The director has been fascinated by radio since his childhood. Waves is a tribute to the work of editors at Czechoslovak Radio. Mádl based the film on the memories of contemporary witnesses, including the journalist Jan Petránek and especially Věra Štovíčková, from whom he learned things that cannot be found in textbooks.[14] At the end of the 1960s, both worked in the “International Life” editorial team, for which Karel Jezdínský, Dobrovský and Dienstbier also worked at the time.[16]
The film music was composed by Briton Simon Goff. The Grammy Award winner has worked with Icelandic Hildur Guðnadóttir in the past and has previously worked on films such as Joker and We Have Never Been Modern and television series such as Chernobyl.[17]
The first trailer for Vlny was presented at the end of June 2024.[18] The film premiered on July 1, 2024 at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[19] The cinema release in the Czech Republic was planned for August 15, 2024.[14] The film premiered on 1 August 2024 in Slovakia.[20] The film premiered in Prague on 6 August 2024[21] and entered theatrical distribution on 15 August in the Czech Republic.[22]
Reception
The film was released to positive reviews from critics according to Kinobox aggregator.[23]
The film premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where it received standing ovation from audiences that lasted for 10 minutes[22][24] and won audience polling with average rating 1.05.[25] The film also received standing ovation upon its premiere in Bratislava.[26]
