In the Shadow

A detective storyline lost under a layer of ideological cleansing, and it’s not even saved by the fact that the extras are familiar faces and that Ondříček sells it visually as a sovereign European film. The cool façade is more likely to bear a jolly contemporary comedy than a period reckoning with a dark chapter of national history. A missed opportunity whose superficial glitz was only cemented by the movie award. (06/27/2013)

Although Ondříček is once again working with his favorites Taclík and Trojan, his latest retro detective film does not remind us in the slightest of his older films. Which is a very good thing. Overall, the atmosphere, sets and costumes reflect the year 1953 very well. Moreover, the drama works and it is a pleasure to perceive the great acting performances of Jiří Štěpnička or Soňa Norisová next to the giant Sebastian Koch. (10/02/2012)

I gave it four stars at first because I’m happy about every Czech film that isn’t bad, and In the Shadow is not a bad film. The problem is that it’s not the good detective film that it wants to be most of the time. It works mostly on a dramatic level, but the unnecessarily complicated, confusing and vaguely narrated level of the detective investigation bothered me in the cinema. I didn’t get exactly the who, what, how and why… Technically speaking, it’s comparable to the European competition, which is good. What Czech cinema is missing the most today are good screenwriters. (09/27/2012)

Actually, this could have been a very good retro detective film with stunning visuals and imaginative intermingling of music and image (Ondříček successfully followed in the traditions of Protector and Walking Too Fast, which started this "phenomenon" in Czech cinema). Nonetheless, this is a story from the 1950s, so any rationalization of the investigation is only favorable until the point when it appeals to the comrades themselves. And great praise is due to Mr. Ondříček for managing to suitably balance the share of mystery and for the fact that, when all’s said and done, this is really a "political detective thriller" that uses all of its "mystery" solely for the purpose of portraying the nervous and dark atmosphere of the 1950s as faithfully as possible. (11/24/2013)

I decided to go to the cinema to see In the Shadow because I believe such efforts at good filmmaking simply deserve my money. It surprised me that David Ondříček was able to make such a great film. The actors were amazing. I have to praise Sebastian Koch, who had the desire to star in a Czech film. He definitely succeeded. Still, I must not forget Ivan Trojan in the leading role, who was absolutely amazing. But the others were good as well. And even though they only appeared in the film for a few scenes, it was a pleasure to see them, whether it was Martin Myšička, Miroslav Krobot, Simona Babčáková or Jiří Štěpnička. As for the story, I admit that I was expecting a complicated riddle with an interesting ending. But the essence is far simpler than you would expect. Nevertheless, for the great atmosphere of the fifties, the landscape and the set designs, which I still don’t understand where the filmmakers found them, and especially how they managed to adapt them so well, but also for the great production... this film simply deserves the attention. (10/03/2012)