Over the course of 50 years, popular rock singer Bára Basiková became an icon of Czech show business, while her warm personality remained unchanged. Filmmaker Helena Třeštíková’s portrait is a time-lapse documentary, a film project made over several decades—a genre for which the director has become renowned.
The film traces Basiková’s artistic career, from performing in two successful bands and appearing as an actress in musicals to reaching the top of the charts. It also follows her personal development as a woman and mother combining a demanding career with raising children and navigating a succession of relationship crises. Without passing judgment, Třeštíková shows the toll that fame can take, particularly on female performers who, if they refuse to scale back their ambitions, often find professional success comes at a cost to their love lives.
Filming across such a long period captures not only Basiková’s personal struggles, but also the transformation of Czech society from the final years of socialism onward. The result is an engaging portrait of a woman who, despite her considerable fame, has remained true to herself.
Stills
