BROKEN VOICES
(director/writer: Ondřej Provazník; cinematographer:Lukáš Milota; editor: Anna Johnson Ryndová; music:Pjoni, Aid Kid; cast: Kateřina Falbrová (Karolina-13), Juraj Loj (Choirmaster Macha Vitek), Maya Kintera (Lucie-15), Zuzana Šulajová (Mother of Karolina and Lucie),
Marek Cisovský (Father of Karolina and Lucie), Ivana Wojtylová (Professor-mother of choirmaster), Anna Michalcová (Judita-15), Anežka Novotná (Katka-15), Markéta Kühnová
(Andula-15); Runtime: 109; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Jiří Konečný, Iva n Ostrochovský; Endor Film; 2025-Czech Republic-Slovak Republic-in Czech & English, with English subtitles)
“The provocative docudrama points out how corrupt regimes can ruin innocent lives.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Czech director/writer Ondřej Provazník (“Old-Timers”/”Coal in the Soul”) sets the coming-of-age story in the 1990s, when Soviet-control was drawing to an end in Prague. It’s based on a true incident in the Czech republic involving a scandal that has been fictionalized for the film.
In the real story, the renown Choirmaster Bohumil Kulinsky, of the noted girls’ choir Bambini di Praga, was convicted in 2008 of sexual abuse acts against many of the girls.
The film follows what happened to the 13-year-old Karolina (Kateřina Falbrová), a member of the choir’s B team. Her 15-year-old sister Lucie (Maya Kintera) is on the A team.
Karolina’s choirmaster is the charismatic but questionable character named Macha Vitek (Juraj Loj), a sex abuser who has gotten away for years with his sex crimes because the corrupt government refused to acknowledge it. He makes Karolina his next target.
The mood piece was shot in a grainy 16mm.
Vitek has the choir for a two-week rehearsal period in a remote ski resort. The choir then arrives in Manhattan and stays in an upscale hotel. That’s where the predator molests Karolina.
The sexual abuse incidents make it a dark film, but when the girls perform on stage it’s joyous to hear them sing.
The provocative docudrama points out how corrupt regimes can ruin innocent lives and that it takes courage to be the voice of resistance.
It played at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 8/13/2025 GRADE: B+