Grapes

There are plenty of nice pictures, decent music, the beautiful Tereza, the annoying Hádek, and Postránecký as the only person with insight. However, there’s really no plot in it. 2 ½. (12/21/2008)

About wine and nothing. You can’t deny the relaxed atmosphere. “It’s got it" but only in the last half hour. About from the time when Lukáš Langmajer moves out of the story. Up until then it’s a rushed pastiche that doesn’t know where it’s heading or even how to get there. At least this goes on quite pleasantly. The cast is pleasantly little known, the music great (most of the best moments are connected with atmospheric parts resting only on the music), but the camerawork throws it all in the cesspool. Then it isn’t even kitschy-nice; it is the pure essence of the highest caliber of blatant kitsch. And with no technical support and everything filmed from the same bathwater. Over-the-top paint book image of a “clean" Moravia versus the gray tones of rotten Prague. Wow, how much time did it take the creators to think up such an incredibly innovative concept? But why get mad about it. It’s enough to say that the camerawork almost manages to kill the visual qualities of Terezka Voříšková. Which you might have thought is impossible. Despite everything, Grapes is a good movie. And mainly due to Vořísková, the red duck and Hádek. Bařina isn’t very active, but I wouldn’t refuse on principle to watch another movie by him. If he gets a different cameraman. But the movie makes you feel like a glass or two of wine afterward, so pass the red. Hey, where are you all? I want wine, but all I’ve got is Pilsen! (04/18/2008)

An unexpected trip to a place where I felt so good as a viewer. Bařina sent me so much optimism that I drew from it for several weeks. I enjoyed myself, admired, dreamed, and maybe three times I was so absorbed that I didn't believe my own senses. I don't need wine for a lifetime, but here I maybe felt like opening it for the first time. At one time, a promise of hope not only for the summer but also for Czech comedy. It is such a pity that we see so little of this accurate judgment. (04/02/2008)

The feeling I have after every Grapes is exactly the feeling I want to have after every movie. Humor, adventure, longing, beauty, romance... all set in beautiful Moravia and wine cellars. I can't forget to mention the fantastic soundtrack. A great way to caress the soul. Really well done! (10/28/2010)

I wouldn't mind at all if this had been a milestone between what Czech film has been and will be. I'm just tired of watching those bitter comedies, I don't want to watch the plight of ordinary people when it's handled the same way over and over again. Fine, this is not a work of art; but it's not a typical American comedy, either. It's an interesting film. It's a movie where everyone’s always drinking. It's a movie with lots of shots of Moravia. I didn't even know there was anything that nice in our country. So I guess I'm grateful for that. It's not a movie I'll remember days later. On the contrary, after a couple of hours I've forgotten it. Still, I think it's a stepping stone. Nothing that was, nothing that will be. Maybe it’s the sign of a change. Or maybe not; I'm clapping my liver. Without wine. (03/04/2009)

Grapes is an absolutely typical example of the fact that a relatively decent film, one that is nothing special, but still functional, is considered a great success in the Czech Republic. Which is absolutely tragic. Instead of everyone being happy that one quite acceptable summer film has been made, we have to watch miserably as the original modest idea turns into a not-very-successful trilogy full of nonsense and kitsch. That’s too bad, because the first film from Bařina was interesting at least in its individual aspects. But the attempt to continue the new tradition of post-revolutionary summer hits in the style of The Ride seems to be a bit beyond the capabilities of the current creators. (08/21/2020)

This is a film from which I didn't expect anything special, and that is exactly what I got. The Moravian landscape, which I love, Tereza Voříšková, whom I don't love, but if I could, I would definitely love, and Lubomír Lipský all made it deserve three stars. Grapes has a nice mood, the end of summer is almost breathing out of the film... But only almost, because you still feel like you're flipping through a magazine full of photos rather than "being right there for an hour and a half". (10/25/2009)

This is a feature-length advertisement for Mikulov and Moravian vineyards, supplemented by rough patchwork scenes and isolated weak jokes. The film has style with no substance, with unsympathetic protagonists offering only a pile of pseudo-philosophizing about wine and a handful of stereotypical clichés about the sunny Moravian utopia that is supposed to be a landscape full of rest, easy women and cheerful uncles. (03/01/2020)

I was sick and tired of the constant repetitive jokes about people from Prague (and I'm not from there myself). I didn't even get a proper dose of humor that I expect of a comedy. It made me smile a few times, but my sides remained unsplit. The film’s main assets were definitely Kryštof Hádek, whom I would find convincing even as a scam artist, and Tereza Voříšková, whose cracked voice makes the rest of my functioning nerve endings shiver. (05/04/2020)

Considering that the second part is a terrible stupidity without any idea, the first part works and the characters haven't managed to annoy each other so much yet. True, 50% of the success is mainly due to wine and Moravia, and the rest will be taken care of by the actors and a fairly decent script. I remember "Bobule" quite fondly, although I prefer to forget about the sequel. The dramatic story works quite well here, but in the end, it's mainly the wine that stays in your memory. (12/23/2013)