NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Second Run Blu-ray (March 2026): Second Run have transferred Karel Kachyňa's Long Live the Republic! to Blu-ray. Second Run's 1080P presents presents the film from a new high-definition transfer sourced from the best surviving materials by the Czech National Film Archive, marking its worldwide Blu-ray debut. The CinemaScope image exhibits excellent clarity and detail for a film of its age and origin, with strong contrast that preserves the lyrical yet gritty visual style - heavy textures in rural landscapes, facial close-ups, and dream sequences shine through. Minor age-related artifacts like occasional light speckles or faint vertical lines appear sporadically, consistent with archival elements, but overall stability, depth, and dynamic range deliver a substantial upgrade over any prior home video versions, allowing viewers to fully appreciate Jaromír Šofr's (Larks on a String, A Report on the Party and Guests, Closely Watched Trains) expressive cinematography. The imagery balances harsh naturalistic detail - gritty village realism, chaotic wartime action, and unflinching depictions of cruelty - with expressive, dreamlike sequences that drift into fantasy, memory, and hallucination, creating a hallucinogenic intensity through inventive framing, dynamic camera movement (including aerial shots from military helicopters), and elaborate visual scope that emphasizes the boy's subjective confusion amid adult brutality. This blend of epic grandeur and intimate subjectivity gives the film a lyrical yet caustic look, where beauty often underscores irony and tragedy.

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On their Blu-ray, Second Run use a linear PCM dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original Czech language. It faithfully reproduces the film's original sound design, including ambient village noises, distant wartime echoes, sparse musical cues by Jan Novák (Coach to Vienna, ) and raw dialogue delivery. The mix is clear and well-balanced, with no noticeable hiss, distortion, or damage beyond what's inherent to the source era; dialogue remains intelligible, and subtle atmospheric layers enhance the immersive, observational tone without overpowering the image. Second Run offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

This Second Run Blu-ray release offers relevant supplements. the standout is a 1/2 hour 1998 filmed interview with director Karel Kachyňa hosted by Jerry Carlson for the City Cinematheque, offering insightful reflections on the film's creation, themes, and subversive intent in a relaxed, conversational format. Jan Němec's 1963 short A Memory for the Present (Pamet naseho dne, 10-minutes) provides complementary context on WWII memory and legacy through poetic, experimental visuals. A booklet features new writing by Czech cinema expert Peter Hames, adding scholarly depth on Kachyňa's career and the film's historical significance.

Karel Kachyňa's Long Live the Republic! stands as a pivotal early work in the Czechoslovak New Wave, subverting the official socialist realist narratives of World War II liberation that dominated Czechoslovak cinema in the preceding decades. Set in the Moravian village of Nesovice during the chaotic spring of 1945, the film unfolds through the subjective, fragmented perspective of 12-year-old Oldřich (nicknamed Piňda or Olda, portrayed with raw authenticity by non-professional actor Zdeněk Lstibůrek), a small, bullied, and mistreated boy whose abusive father forces him to hide the family's mare and cart in the woods to protect them from requisitioning armies. Kachyňa's direction, aided inventive editing, poetic visual motifs (such as recurring images of the horse as a symbol of fragile innocence and imposed responsibility), and a caustic irony that exposes universal human failings rather than ideological heroism. The ironic title mocks triumphalist propaganda about the Republic's rebirth under Soviet influence, presenting instead a disillusioned coming-of-age where the child's maturing gaze reveals the absurdity and tragedy of wartime morality: victors and vanquished alike exhibit vice, self-interest, and brutality, with no clear ethical divide. Comparisons to Andrei Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood (1962) arise from the shared focus on war's psychological impact on a young protagonist, yet Kachyňa's film distinguishes itself through its darker, anti-heroic tone and refusal to romanticize either side. The film's structure, oscillating between present action and the boy's inner world, creates a hallucinogenic intensity that mirrors childhood confusion amid chaos. Second Run's Blu-ray edition of Long Live the Republic! is a commendable and essential release for this undervalued gem of the Czechoslovak New Wave - delivering the film's first proper high-definition presentation with a respectful transfer, solid audio, and relevant extras that highlight its artistic and historical value. Region-free and well-produced, it brings long-overdue international accessibility to Karel Kachyňa's poignant, ironic wartime portrait, earning high recommendation for collectors interested in Eastern European cinema of the 1960s. Absolutely recommended.

Gary Tooze