Bylo to v máji

Martin Frič has always found a way to stay relevant. During the war, he made two Prag-Films, after the war he helped found modern Slovak cinema, and in the late 1940s, he helped settle a score with kitsch. He has also made several agitprop films. But it wouldn't be Frič if he didn't laugh at the new times at least between the lines. He cast his favorite actors from the first-republic cinema, i.e. those who still remained in Czechoslovakia, and let them play out a cheap script full of slogans. But thanks to having a happy Marvan in the lead role, it's not all that unfortunate. Nollová and Smolíková were always ready to get their big mouths going, Jana Dítětová was in the prime of her youth, and old friends Pištěk, Fiala and Mrázek were also there for everyone else. A group like that will improve any nonsensical plan. (14/08/2021)

Frič's average attempt to create an ideological propaganda film. Marvan has again carved out his emblematic role of a grumpy grandfather who, through the collective, will be converted to the true faith and understand the joyful reality of socialism. Structurally, the film is clearly influenced by Vašek Káňa and his production drama Karhan's Team. In other words, it unfolds a relatively harmonious course of construction (fulfillment of the plan), which is disrupted by technical difficulties and a few non-conforming individuals, supplemented by several family scenes (filmed at a rather brisk pace) and escalated with a final catharsis, during which the plan is fulfilled and Šebesta joins masses of working class heroes. It Happened in May is simply a typical representative of a work propaganda film, which at some point slips to talking about improvement, which is difficult for our people to understand. For the well-informed viewer, it provides quite interesting visual material for May Day rituals, but overall it is not a film so ideologically accentuated that it is entertaining through its pathos, nor a comedy of such quality that it is worth watching. From a professional point of view, Sorel cinema offers several more interesting and inspiring pieces... (25/11/2006)