The Silent Village
Encyclopedia
The Silent Village is a 1943
British propaganda
short film in the form of a drama documentary, made by the Crown Film Unit
and directed by Humphrey Jennings
. The film was named one of the top 5 documentaries of 1943 by the National Board of Review.
, Czechoslovakia
, which had been the scene of an appalling Nazi atrocity on 10 June 1942 when its entire adult male population was wiped out and its women and children sent to Nazi concentration camps
, which few would ultimately survive. News of the massacre caused much shock in the UK, particularly in the coal-mining areas of the country. The film recreates events in Lidice but transports them to a South Wales mining community to indicate that if the German invasion of Britain had been successful in 1940, then the kind of atrocities currently being perpetrated in German-occupied Europe would just as likely be happening contemporaneously in the UK; also as a reminder to the British people of what they were fighting against.
in Brecknockshire
, and in particular its self-contained community of Cwmgiedd. Jennings discussed the project with the local mine workers and their families, and found them enthusiastic for the venture. He also gained the co-operation of the South Wales Miners' Federation
president Arthur Horner, who felt that the proposed film would be symbolic of the unity and solidarity felt by all mining communities with the people of Lidice.
Filming began in September 1942 and continued through to December. Jennings had decided that no professional actors would be brought in, and his entire cast consisted of untrained local people, although he was careful to ensure that nobody appeared on screen without giving their permission and that anyone who felt uneasy or uncomfortable about being filmed was excluded from shots. People were filmed going about their actual daily lives in a largely improvised manner with no script being provided. In a letter to his wife, he wrote: "Down here I’m working on a reconstruction of the Lidice story in a mining community – but more important than that really is being close to the community itself and living and working inside it, for what it is everyday. I really never thought to live and see the honest Christian and Communist principles acted on as a matter of course by a large number of British – I won’t say English – people living together."
; men are shown working at the colliery, women engaged in domestic tasks in their homes and the inhabitants singing in the Methodist chapel. Most of the dialogue in this section is in the Welsh language
, with no subtitles provided. The section closes with another title card stating "such is life at Cwmgiedd...and such too was life in Lidice until the coming of Fascism".
The German occupation is heralded by the arrival in the village of a black car, blaring military music and political slogans from its loudhailer. Little is shown of the occupation itself, its violence being implied by a soundtrack of marching boots, gunfire and harshly amplified orders and directives, in the sound-as-narrative technique Jennings had previously developed in Listen to Britain. The identity of the community is eroded, with the Welsh language being suppressed and no longer permitted as the teaching medium in the school, and trade union
activity being made illegal. The villagers resistance takes the form of covert activities including the publication of a Welsh news sheet. Eventually, even the singing of Welsh hymns in the chapel is outlawed.
The murder of Reinhard Heydrich
, whose assassination (Operation Anthropoid
) by British-trained Czech agents in Prague
sparked the actual Lidice massacre, is the catalyst for the systematic obliteration of Cwmgiedd in reprisal. The children of the village are marched out of school and join the womenfolk as they are loaded onto trucks. The men, defiantly singing "Land of Our Fathers
" as they go, are lined up against the wall of the village churchyard.
and A Diary for Timothy
. Dave Berry of the British Film Institute
notes: "There's a civilised reticence about Jennings' treatment...but overall (he) instinctively finds the right tone. A constant fear of reprisals permeates the film. In domestic scenes, the locals' impassivity, listening to their radios, compounds the sense of oppression. Stilted acting makes its own contribution. There are no glib, articulate spokesmen here and Jennings, using light and shadow well, suggests a stunned community awaiting the decisive blow." In a wider discussion of Welsh industry in film, BBC Wales
said: "Jennings' penchant for understatement and striking imagery carried its own force - and the film, calling for solidarity among miners faced with the German threat to freedom, was instrumental in forging enduringly strong relationships between Czech and Welsh miners, in particular."
1943 in film
The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
British propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
short film in the form of a drama documentary, made by the Crown Film Unit
Crown Film Unit
The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during World War II. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in Britain and abroad...
and directed by Humphrey Jennings
Humphrey Jennings
Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization...
. The film was named one of the top 5 documentaries of 1943 by the National Board of Review.
Background
The Silent Village was designed as a tribute to the mining community of LidiceLidice
Lidice is a village in the Czech Republic just northwest of Prague. It is built on the site of a previous village of the same name which, as part of the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, was on orders from Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, completely destroyed by German forces in reprisal...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, which had been the scene of an appalling Nazi atrocity on 10 June 1942 when its entire adult male population was wiped out and its women and children sent to Nazi concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
, which few would ultimately survive. News of the massacre caused much shock in the UK, particularly in the coal-mining areas of the country. The film recreates events in Lidice but transports them to a South Wales mining community to indicate that if the German invasion of Britain had been successful in 1940, then the kind of atrocities currently being perpetrated in German-occupied Europe would just as likely be happening contemporaneously in the UK; also as a reminder to the British people of what they were fighting against.
Production
By August 1942, Jennings was scouting for a filming location in a mining community with both a physical resemblance to Lidice, and a similar social/political history. His travels brought him to the town of YstradgynlaisYstradgynlais
Ystradgynlais is a town on the River Tawe in south west Powys; it is the second largest town in Powys, Wales. The town grew around the iron-making, coal-mining and watch-making industries....
in Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...
, and in particular its self-contained community of Cwmgiedd. Jennings discussed the project with the local mine workers and their families, and found them enthusiastic for the venture. He also gained the co-operation of the South Wales Miners' Federation
South Wales Miners' Federation
The South Wales Miners' Federation , nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for miners in South Wales.The union was founded on 24 October 1898, following the defeat of the South Wales miners' strike of 1898...
president Arthur Horner, who felt that the proposed film would be symbolic of the unity and solidarity felt by all mining communities with the people of Lidice.
Filming began in September 1942 and continued through to December. Jennings had decided that no professional actors would be brought in, and his entire cast consisted of untrained local people, although he was careful to ensure that nobody appeared on screen without giving their permission and that anyone who felt uneasy or uncomfortable about being filmed was excluded from shots. People were filmed going about their actual daily lives in a largely improvised manner with no script being provided. In a letter to his wife, he wrote: "Down here I’m working on a reconstruction of the Lidice story in a mining community – but more important than that really is being close to the community itself and living and working inside it, for what it is everyday. I really never thought to live and see the honest Christian and Communist principles acted on as a matter of course by a large number of British – I won’t say English – people living together."
Synopsis
The Silent Village opens with a title card outlining the story of Lidice. It then moves on to an image of the stream running through Cwmgiedd, which in an eight-minute opening sequence is interspersed with images and sounds of everyday life in a community in the Upper Swansea ValleySwansea Valley
The Swansea Valley , one of the South Wales Valleys is the name often given to the valley of the River Tawe area in South Wales, UK. It reaches southwest and south from the Brecon Beacons National Park down to the city of Swansea. Today, administration of the area is divided between the City and...
; men are shown working at the colliery, women engaged in domestic tasks in their homes and the inhabitants singing in the Methodist chapel. Most of the dialogue in this section is in the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, with no subtitles provided. The section closes with another title card stating "such is life at Cwmgiedd...and such too was life in Lidice until the coming of Fascism".
The German occupation is heralded by the arrival in the village of a black car, blaring military music and political slogans from its loudhailer. Little is shown of the occupation itself, its violence being implied by a soundtrack of marching boots, gunfire and harshly amplified orders and directives, in the sound-as-narrative technique Jennings had previously developed in Listen to Britain. The identity of the community is eroded, with the Welsh language being suppressed and no longer permitted as the teaching medium in the school, and trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activity being made illegal. The villagers resistance takes the form of covert activities including the publication of a Welsh news sheet. Eventually, even the singing of Welsh hymns in the chapel is outlawed.
The murder of Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
, whose assassination (Operation Anthropoid
Operation Anthropoid
Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the targeted killing of top German SS leader Reinhard Heydrich. He was the chief of the Reich Main Security Office , the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and a chief planner of the Final Solution, the Nazi German programme for the genocide of the...
) by British-trained Czech agents in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
sparked the actual Lidice massacre, is the catalyst for the systematic obliteration of Cwmgiedd in reprisal. The children of the village are marched out of school and join the womenfolk as they are loaded onto trucks. The men, defiantly singing "Land of Our Fathers
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the national anthem of Wales. The title – taken from the first words of the song – means "Old Land of My Fathers", usually rendered in English as simply "Land of My Fathers". The words were written by Evan James and the tune composed by his son, James James, both residents...
" as they go, are lined up against the wall of the village churchyard.
Critical reception
On its release, The Silent Village gained a reputation as a particularly pertinent, powerful and moving short film. Contemporary opinion places it among the products of Jennings' most fruitful period as a director alongside Listen to Britain, Fires Were StartedFires Were Started
Fires Were Started is a British film written and directed by Humphrey Jennings, filmed in documentary style showing the lives of firefighters through the Blitz in World War II...
and A Diary for Timothy
A Diary for Timothy
A Diary for Timothy is a British documentary film directed by Humphrey Jennings. It was produced by Basil Wright for the Crown Film Unit....
. Dave Berry of the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
notes: "There's a civilised reticence about Jennings' treatment...but overall (he) instinctively finds the right tone. A constant fear of reprisals permeates the film. In domestic scenes, the locals' impassivity, listening to their radios, compounds the sense of oppression. Stilted acting makes its own contribution. There are no glib, articulate spokesmen here and Jennings, using light and shadow well, suggests a stunned community awaiting the decisive blow." In a wider discussion of Welsh industry in film, BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
said: "Jennings' penchant for understatement and striking imagery carried its own force - and the film, calling for solidarity among miners faced with the German threat to freedom, was instrumental in forging enduringly strong relationships between Czech and Welsh miners, in particular."
See also
Articles on related films- Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
- Hitler's MadmanHitler's MadmanHitler's Madman is a 1943 World War II film about the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich and the revenge taken by the Germans. It was produced by Seymour Nebenzal for PRC and Angelus Pictures, Inc. The shooting of Hitler's Madman took place late in 1942 and early 1943...
(1943) - AtentátAtentatAtentát is a 1964 black-and-white Czech film directed by Jiří Sequens. The World War II story depicts events before and after the assassination of top German leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague .-Synopsis:...
(1964) - Operation DaybreakOperation DaybreakOperation Daybreak is a 1975 World War II film based on the true story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague - starring Anthony Andrews, Timothy Bottoms and Martin Shaw. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and shot mostly on location in Prague. It was adapted from the book Seven Men...
(1975)