HBO’s the Sleepers: How Spy Genre and Transnational Co-Production Challenged the Memory of Communism in the Czech Republic

Abstract

This study centers on the problem of transposition of historical reality into the artistic form. Using the example of HBO Europe’s Czech six-part drama Bez vědomí (The Sleepers, 2019), I would like to discuss how the transnational co-production, the effort to attract international audiences, and the selected genre influenced the portrayal of the past. In the context of Czech audiovisual production, the series represents a rather exceptional example. First, it reflects on the period around the Velvet Revolution, which has not been the focus of many Czech films or TV series. It is set in late 1980s Prague, and captures the time of political and societal changes that resulted in the collapse of the communist regime. Secondly, the series uses the spy genre, which is also unique in local production. Drawing from film and TV studies and from memory studies, I will explore the concept of transnational memory in relation to HBO’s original production. In particular, however, I would like to focus on the formative role of the genre and argue that the choice of the genre in itself contributes to challenging the prevailing narratives and already established interpretations of the past.