Long Live the Family!

Implicated in his bank’s embezzlement scandal, Libor (the hangdog Igor Chmela) staggers home, wondering how it ever came to this. An educator who fell prey to capitalism’s sway, he’s now facing a lengthy prison sentence unless he rats out his bosses. After a night of drunken soul-searching—including the commandeering of a public address system—he sees no other option than going on the lam. The twist being this: he disguises his flight from justice as an old-fashioned family road trip. Slowly winding his way—family in tow—to the home of university friends, Libor glimpses the simpler life he might have led. All the while, the authorities—and his day of reckoning—are closing in.

Writer-director Robert Sedlácek pairs his satirical jabs with some keen insights into the conflicted psyche of the modern business/family man. While this cautionary tale’s trappings and sensibility are notably Slavic, the questions it raise make it universal. Libor’s postponement of the inevitable allows Sedlácek ample time to explore the themes of loyalty and personal responsibility. In turn, we find ourselves questioning where our own priorities lie. We have every reason to doubt Libor’s claims that he always had his family’s best interests at heart. However, we’re left with the eerie sense that he’s onto something when he declares, "We’re all in it up to our necks."