Pribehy obycejneho silenstvi

by: Tereza Schneiderova

Petr Zelenka certainly does not fall into the category of “unsuccessful Czech director.” He has already proven his immense talent in other successful films such as Knoflikari, Rok dabla, and Samotari. His new film Pribehy obycejneho silenstvi is definitely on the same level as the others, and may even beat them.

As in his other films, the characters in Pribehy obycejneho silenstvi constantly deal with unusual situations with their parents, jobs and life, and at times, they don’t seem to live in a “normal” world. Perhaps because of this, Zelenka’s films seem to reflect the bizarreness or individuality of our own lives.

If you wonder how the title of films connects to the plot, you don’t have to now. The title talks for itself throughout the film. All I have to say is: Great music, great direction, great scenario, great performance and great spectacle.

The story takes place in Prague, primarily at the airport. Petr (Ivan Trojan) is the main character, a 33 years old “loser.” He has lost his girlfriend, his parents are strange and he has problems with his boss too. Petr works at the airport and controls the incoming packages. Throughout the whole story, he tries to get his love, Jana (Zuzana Sulajova), back by staging many insane tricks. Petr’s life is not easy, no one believes him when he claims that his blanket tries to strangle him, and his parents don’t make it better. His mother (Nina Diviskova) is too soft-hearted and his father (Miroslav Krobot) finds himself a lover and is, let’s say, “weird.”

Petr’s crazy life wouldn’t be complete without his crazy boss. Petr’s boss (Karel Hermanek) wasn’t one of the lucky ones; he married a furious woman. Therefore, he decides to find himself a lover too. I will only tell you that his lover is very abnormal.

Petr’s neighbors (Zuzana Bydzovska and Jiri Bartoska) are also abnormal. They have specific sexual preferences that Petr somehow gets mixed up in by accident. Just when you think that the whole story might just end normally, things actually take a radical turn which makes you pay attention again.

The story has a main narrative, but I think that Zelenka’s primary purpose is to make the audience notice the little details, which actually build the whole plot. And all of the details do make sense. What is excellent about the whole story is the connection between the beginning and the end, prepare to be surprised. It left me feeling that “happy ends” are no longer wanted of movies. But, if there is a movie you should see now, it’s definitely this one. Wait no longer.

Director: Petr Zelenka

Script: Petr Zelenka

Starring: Ivan Trojan, Zuzana Sulajova, Nina Diviskova, Miroslav Krobot, Karel Hermanek, Zuzana Bydzovska, Jiri Bartoska, Petra Lustigova

Camera: Miro Gabor

Up and Down (Horem Padem)

by: Tereza Schneiderova

These days it is impossible not to notice the stunts used to promote the new Czech film "Up and Down". The commercials continually distract you forcing you to finally go out and see the film. You won’t regret it.

At the beginning "Up and Down" has all the aspects of a comedy – that then, unfortunately turns into a sad reality. Still there is an undertone of humor, or quirkiness. The whole plot is build up of three separate stories with one thing in common: immigration and racism. You could say that this film attempts to flesh out different views on these issues by showing you the story from three different social backgrounds.

The first story evolves around an illegal business. A group of men organize the illegal transportation of refugees. Once they get into the Czech Republic, they kick all of the refugees out on a road, forgetting a baby inside the truck.

This is where the second story comes in: a young couple longs for a child but can’t have one. The guy is a security guard and a huge Sparta fan and has had a few run-ins with the police; her only wish is to have a child. While this family deals with their social problems, another family has some different trouble.

The head of the family in the third story is an older man. He decides to get divorced because he has lived with his mistress for twenty years already. His mistress takes care of refugees in the Czech Republic. To make things official, he also invites his son from Australia to the Czech Republic. The film demonstrates a huge contrast between the Czech Republic and Australia that I thought was a bit exaggerated. However, you can look forward to a scene where all members of the family meet in the father’s house at the same time.

The three separate stories do actually connect later in a KFC restaurant. There a silly mistake then gives the story a radical turn and aims to demonstrate how subtle mistakes can change the flow of your life. From that point on don’t expect too many funny moments. I think it is suffice to say that the ending is quite depressing.

Overall, I personally liked this film. It was realistic and true. The actors were perfectly chosen for their roles. You can easily see the movie’s smart message about racial tolerance and you realize that not every life or every movie for that matter has to have a happy ending. If you suffer from seasonal depression or general malaise however, you probably shouldn’t go.

Director: Jan Hřebejk

Starring: Petr Forman, Emília Vášáryová, Jan Tříska, Ingrid Timková, Kristýna Liška Boková, Jiří Macháček, Nataša Burger, Jaroslav Dušek, Pavel liška, Marek Daniel, Jan Budař, Zdeněk Suchý

Script: Petr Jarchovský

Camera: Jan Malíř

Music: Aleš Březina

Vaterland

Reviewed by: Tereza Schneiderova

This is a movie highlights a passion for hunting and can be summarized in three sentences. There is no serious plot. Everything seems foggy and mysterious yet the real mystery is never brought to light in the end. It’s like the film tries to gives you hope that something exciting will happen. It never does.

The film is presented to the audience as a thriller with bits of comedy. I didn’t find either of those. Points should be given to the cinematography and musical score however – if it weren’t for these, the film would be total waste of time.

The whole film takes place at an old hunting castle. The castle was inherited by the four main characters from their grandfather. They meet there and hunt, two of the men bring their wives. There is an old butler supposedly takes care of the building but he doesn’t do such a great job, the building is devastated, full of spider-webs and flies, and in other words, the whole scene is disgusting. All of the men stick together and plan a big journey for hunting a special kind of animal. They get all the equipment ready and set off to the mountains. A real surprise waits for the men and the audience, but be prepared…it seemed a bit stupid to me. After the hunt nothing really interesting happens. There is a mystery hidden in the house which isn’t solved in any astonishing way. None of the men want to bother keeping up the house so after a while they all decide to leave and forget about it.

Different people might have different opinions. But this film was too much for me. I think this film should have only been made for TV. It’s up to you if you want to give it a chance, but I would wait for better films to come to the theater. And I’ll let you know when they do.

Director: David Jarab

Staring: Karel Roden, Petr Forman, Frantisek Rehak, Vasil Fridrich, Dana Polakova,Marek Daniel, Roman Zach, Jose Calvalho Pacheco de Figueiredo, Julio Martin da Fonesca, Oyunchimeg Adiya.

Camera: Marek Jicha

Script: David Jarab

Non Plus Ultras

Reviewed by: Tereza Schneiderova

Non Plus Ultras is a new Czech movie that revolves entirely around football and pubs. It doesn’t have any deep meaning or push you into think, but at least it’s not another pathetic romantic comedy or a “funny” teenager film. There are light moments when you tell yourself that it’s not so bad. This seemed to be an experimental movie of a director who had an idea but didn’t bring it to fulfillment.

In the beginning you get to know the main characters. All of them are men and all of them love football and alcohol. Like every group, even they have a leader; his nickname is “Bejcak.” He is a tough guy with a good heart. He lives with his mother and a sister. He has three tough friends who never bother with manners or being polite. The last guy in the group is an outsider who always looks somewhat naive.

One of the guys, “Pejsek” is a serious fan of English soccer. His ultimate goal is to invite two English Ultras (ultras is a word for life time fans in England) to Prague. They come, bringing some problems along with them.

There is a funny scene when Bejcak brings them home and tries to communicate with them in English. They are totally drunk. As football fans are also fans of beer and alcohol in general we get many insights into typical Czech pubs with typical Czech waiters. All the scenes in this film give you an idea of how real football fans live. Everything seemed real to me. But as the director mentioned in one interview, “it’s all not authenticable.”

Every movie should have a love story behind it. And even this film does. The end is for you to see in the movies. Just to get you interested, Bejcak is the one who falls in love.

This movie is a bit rough and not everyone might understand these people but it’s a movie with a new idea and a specific sense of humor. I wasn’t thrilled by this movie but it is a cool movie for those of you who like football and Czech pubs. The rest of you will probably think twice before going to a match after seeing it.

Director: Jakub Sluka

Staring: Vladimir Dlouhy (Tycka), Karel Zima (Pejsek), David Novotny (Bejcak), Oldrich Kaiser (Lojza), Jiri Labus (Pepa), Jana Hlavácova (Mother), Nada Konvalinkova (Iveta)

Script: Jiri Popel

Camera: Jakub Dvorsky

Czech Dream (Česky Sen)

reviewed by: Tereza Schneiderova

Czech Dream (Česky Sen) is not a regular film. There is no hero, no love and no happy ending. It is actually the first Czech reality movie.

If you are bored with the same old movies, annoying characters or tiring plots, this movie will be quite refreshing. Czech Dream is the brainchild of two very witty guys, Filip Remunda and Vit Klusak, students of Prague’s film university FAMU. Their idea was to invent a nonexistent supermarket and persuade people to come to the opening. The film takes you through the whole process of making commercials, printing out flyers, recording a song, questioning shop maniacs about their shopping habits and finally opening the fake supermarket.

The film starts out like an innocent joke but builds to a serious climax. The first step of their charade was to pretend to be true businessmen. They had to become serious and convincing and they actually fulfilled their task. You get the feeling that these two men would do anything for their project to work and you catch yourself hoping that everything will turn out ok. Afterwards they designed a catchy logo for the supermarket, and went to work as if they were really building a new store. They got help from professionals throughout the whole project. After the relatively easy part of coming up with the logo, there came the harder tasks such as getting people to believe that there actually was going to be a new supermarket. There were even serious business obstacles to overcome, such as getting into a fight with the advertising agency. But Remunda and Klusak are concentrated and calm even when they sense a problem.

As the movie draws to a close you feel tense and sort of nervous for the creators; so many people are falling into their trap. And you start to think that the movie and scenario has moved beyond being just a joke. The reactions of people as they come on to the empty field, except for a banner, where the store should be is very interesting. Some of them automatically start to curse at the Czech government and politicians. Some of them keep on looking around thinking that they just don’t see well. And the nice ones smile and go home. As the viewer you mostly expect these reactions. There is one surprising guy that will make you laugh.

If you are thinking about seeing a genuinely Czech film, you shouldn’t wait any longer. Go see Czech Dream (Česky Sen), it offers a lot to learn about Czech mentality and the way people react to unexpected events in the Czech Republic. I’m glad that someone in this country came up with such a creative idea.

Directed by: Filip Remunda, Vit Klusak
Actors: Citizens of the Czech Republic, Filip Remunda, Vit Klusak
Script: Filip Remunda, Vit Klusak
Camera: Vit Klusak
Music: Hynek Schneider
Production: Filip Cermak
Co-production: Ceska televize, Studio MIRAGE, FAMU, Cinemasound

Czech Movie Reviews

Current Czech movies news and reviews