Sarah Jayne Portelli

Director Ivan Ostrochovsky's drama Servants moves drearily through the themes of lies, deceit, tested loyalties and blackmail during the 1980's in Czechoslovakia. Servants is powerful on many levels, making it an art house dark horse worth commending. Shot in striking black and white, Servants is a film not complicated plot wise, but it makes up for this simplicity on the creatively visual scale. Almost every frame that holds a character moment tightly, every panning or tracking shot, including the bird's-eye shots, scream masterpiece. The music score is a presence ‌almost as much as God is to the characters, taking on a lingering energy, as if bouncing off the historical architectural design of the locations. Sometimes there’s the odd, but affective moment of silence–suitable for a film set in a theological seminary–which help drive the plot forward through copious amounts of unnerving, stiff tension. As the students make their way through their daily routines various collective images of movement draw in audiences–the black robes flowing, made extra mesmerizing by this soundscape. The atmosphere created feels otherworldly, trance-like. The whole sensory experience Servants puts forward further stresses an already a dark and unsafe world built solely on man's faith in God–a faith that is easily demolished by lies and betrayal of men merely existing to be servants to it. The unnerving close-up shots, encapsulate both the sinful and conflicted characters within a tight box. The above mentioned creative aesthetic choices, plus the classic aspect ratio decision to shoot in four-by-three gives off an overall mood of claustrophobic foreboding. Europe is painted as an imposing and dangerous place for the leads Juraj and Michal–friends and young students attending the theological seminary. Storywise, the plot is driven by the choices of these young men as they forge their own path, choose their side and finally get engulfed by secrets they kept from one another, causing a rift. Although it may feel like the simple plot has been somewhat drawn out longer than necessary, it's worth sticking it out to the final minutes. For strong consideration – S. J. Portelli for The Sound View Published June 2022: https://mailchi.mp/soundviewmediapartners.com/film-release-news-