Politician has a face for all occasions

It is a deep irony that FAMU student Jan Látal's newest documentary is titled Paroubek of a Thousand Faces. The finished product, admits the 31-year-old director, fails to uncover the "real" politician and erstwhile prime minister of 16 months. In fact, Jiří Paroubek wore his "politician's face" for the duration of the shoot, Látal says.

But the young filmmaker was at least able to record the public's feelings toward the man.

If most politicians have been figures of derision at one time or another, Paroubek's terrible reputation has been an ongoing side-effect of his career. The Olomouc-born politician's communist leanings, claims of his ties with underground crime syndicates and his none-too-lithe physique have all been ripe for media targeting.

Yet it is the people themselves in whom Paroubek finds his greatest critics.

Paroubek's most infamous moment - and one that highlighted his unpopularity with the younger electorate - came in 2009, when he was pelted with eggs at a Social Democratic Party campaign stop in Prague. His retort to the angry mob: "I feel sorry for you." It was this moment that sparked Látal's interest in this much-ridiculed politician.

"I felt sorry for him because when I saw all those eggs thrown, I realized that somebody had to uncover the 'normal' Paroubek," Látal says. "That was my motivation."

Látal contacted Paroubek explaining his intentions, and the politician agreed to meet for discussions. Látal admits he was shocked and somewhat excited when Paroubek's only condition came back: The film shouldn't be boring.

Shooting took place on five occasions over a six-month period, but Látal was soon disheartened at the way Paroubek appeared to be acting in front of the camera.

"Everything was very formal. When I wanted to speak with him, he would shake my hand, and he became the same man I knew from television. When he saw the camera, he would put on a mask and speak like a robot. I couldn't find anything pure," Látal says. "I was very sad, and I didn't know what to do. For me, it was a very bad situation because I wanted to show the man."

Eventually, Látal's crew was invited to Paroubek's countryside cottage, where they spent one day filming the politician in the garden with his wife and children. Footage from this day was the only footage that made the final cut. But even in this domestic setting, Látal says, Paroubek remained guarded.

In fact, the "thousand faces" suggested in the documentary's title came only after Látal's frustration with the whole affair. Realizing he couldn't make a documentary purely about Paroubek, he knew he had to take a different tack. Látal Google-searched Paroubek, and printed out the first 40 image results.

"I went around to people and asked, 'Which of the 40 Paroubeks is yours?' I was starting to find Paroubek in the people. This was very interesting, because everyone started to be active and open up their own stories about their own lives," Látal says.

The crew spent two days driving the length and breadth of the Czech Republic, and failed to find a single person who would admit an affinity for Paroubek, despite the fact he had been prime minister just six years earlier.

"The film is full of anger, and the people make no compromise against him," Látal says. "When I finished the film, I thought 'I don't want to show him; there's no way he'll like it.' "

But perhaps the biggest irony of all is to be found in a photo of Paroubek and his wife Petra Paroubková in attendance at the premiere of Paroubek of a Thousand Faces. In spite of the film's distinctly "anti-Paroubek" inclination, Paroubek appears to be laughing his head off at something. Perhaps this is the same defiance that saw him stand up and take a dozen eggs to the face and body, barely flinching.

"I'd love to know the scene when he was laughing," Látal says.

And though Paroubek proved backward in coming forward, there was one moment when Látal believes he let his guard down.

"We were on the cutting-room floor going back and forth through the tape, and in the end we found 10 seconds of Jiří Paroubek with some light in his eyes," Látal says. "It was a moment when he went to his small daughter and was playing with her."

Will Noble can be reached at
wnoble@praguepost.com