Zelary (2003),directed by Ondrej Trojan, is an variation on the theme of a person thrown into an environment for which he or she is not prepared. In this case, the protagonist Eliska (Anna Geislerová) is a beautiful, sophisticated nurse in Prague during the German occupation. Forced to escape from Prague, Eliska finds herself in a remote Czech farming village.

In this setting, her urban knowledge and social skills are inadequate for survival. Predictably, her basic intelligence and her nursing experience do, indeed prove useful. However, without help from the people in the community, she can't possibly survive. Whether her abilities--and the assistance of the villagers--will prove adequate to ensure survival is the question around which the plot revolves.

The weakness of the film is that Eliska's transition into her role as the wife of a farmer is far from adequate. Anna Geislerová is so refined and elegant that it would have taken more than two long braids to fool the Germans (or anyone else).

Still, the concept is interesting, and the film does well in conveying the complexities and difficulties that confront a stranger in an apparently tranquil rural community.

"Zelary" is a WWII picture that is unique--something I appreciate since there are just so many WWII films. It begins with Eliska fleeing the city as her resistance group has been detected by the Nazis. She is set up to go with a simple peasant, Joza, to live as his pretend wife in the mountains of Czechoslovakia. Not surprisingly, at first it is VERY awkward but slowly the pair come to genuinely care about each other and actually live as a real husband-wife couple instead of just as a cover.

This film is not for everyone. There is a lot of nudity. It doesn't necessarily seem gratuitous--just more matter of fact. And, there is some adult content, such as Russian soldiers raping the Czech women. Additionally, if you demand a nice ending, it also is not a film I'd recommend. But, on the plus side, the acting and direction are wonderful and the film is well worth your time. Well made but a tad bleak here and there.

Ondřej Trojan's Academy Award-nominated "Želary" focuses on Eliška, a nurse in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia (called the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia). After the Nazis learn of her role in the resistance, Eliška has to flee to the countryside with a man to whom she donated blood. They hide out in a village timelocked in the 1800s. Eliška has to stay there for the duration of the war, and certain events in the village will have an effect on her for the rest of her life.

The movie makes perfectly clear what a hard life it was for the people living under occupation. It couldn't have been easy in a rural setting either. But whatever the case, it's a fine movie. The main credit should go to Anna Geislerová (who won a well deserved Czech Lion) as Eliška, but the rest of the cast does well also. I've never seen a Czech movie that I disliked. In addition to this one, I recommend Trojan's "Divided We Fall", which also focuses on the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Pravda vítězí!