gudaulin

I remember Abuladze's cult film Repentance from the mid-80s completely differently than how most film fans review it, and I consider those crowds of moviegoers who nodded approvingly as victims of mass hysteria. This is because Abuladze operates in the realm of heavy art, which can only be consumed by a small elite of film connoisseurs who can appreciate what is hopelessly hidden from us ordinary mortals. Occasionally, an acquaintance invites me to the theater to see an opera, but I politely decline because I don't want to find out from printed information what I actually watched. I fell asleep eight times during The Wishing Tree, and constantly rewinding the DVD exhausted me more than digging a trench. I give it 1 star for the camera work and exotic images, but beyond that, it is a festival film that is unusable for the average viewer. Overall impression: 25%.

Peter Greenaway is a very peculiar filmmaker who irresistibly attracts refined aesthetes, countless film connoisseurs, and a numerous army of snobs (no offense, I know that you belong to the first two categories), while the average moviegoer shrugs and doesn't know what to make of his works. Greenaway doesn't so much make films as he stages images. Considered on their own, they can be regarded as the pinnacle of aesthetics, but it's all terribly stylized, pretentious, and detached from reality. The story itself is not important at all, and I think it would be better to visit a gallery rather than watch over 2 hours of a self-indulgent decadent plaything. The craftsmanship, meaning the set with plenty of clever details, the camera, and the cast, are worth 2 stars and a 40% overall impression. The rest is beyond me...

A classic festival film that works better in a film club venue or at a specialized festival rather than on a television screen as a way to fill free time for entertainment. Like most films from the Middle East and Central Asia, this drama is not based on an interesting plot, but rather on the exotic setting and atmosphere of absurdity provided by a different culture, standards, and values. Additionally, in its field, it can serve as self-awareness for women and support for their social status. The main protagonist dreams of better education and self-realization, even considering the idea of obtaining a high position in government administration. Her father is a typical uneducated religious fanatic and the country is torn apart by civil war, so any attempts at social advancement are truly just an illusion. It's not about the story here, but rather a series of sometimes impressive scenes, like when the heroine looks for water in a bullet-riddled gigantic palace and the viewer listens to the drops of water falling and experiences the tension of whether she will step on a landmine or will get lucky again. Overall impression: 55%.

I can't say that I didn't like the movie outright, but I also can't say that I was enthusiastic about it in any way. In my opinion, it is a purely average film, and, due to the lack of funds and perhaps even the filmmaker's creativity, it feels more like a TV film. The theme of the Protectorate and the motive of the Jewish genocide contribute to this, but these concepts have been used many times in the past, and often better. All that is left for me is to sigh - if this is one of the most acclaimed post-November films and according to many enthusiastic comments even one of the peaks, then the state of Czech cinema is even more serious than I thought. Jana Plodková is interesting and unfamiliar, and her stylization of the character of a First Republic film star is quite convincing, but that is not enough for a great film experience. Overall impression: 60%.

The contradictory evaluation of this film is due to the theme of aging, dying, and balancing life, which is inherently distant for most FilmBooster users due to their age. Moreover, the genre in which Arcand operates, psychological drama lightened with a series of tragicomic moments, cannot be as much of a box-office hit as classic entertainment genres. Some objections to the film are indeed valid. It does feel like a TV film and is based on dialogue, which means that the visual aspect falls behind. Not to mention that, given the intellectual focus of most characters, some of their debates slide into unproductive and disconnected conversations, which the director and screenwriter try to use as one of the satirical jabs. Additionally, some of the motifs used, such as searching for heroin at a police station, are really "out of place" and seem to have come from another film from the crazy comedy genre. On the other hand, if one accepts the subject matter and the given situation, the film is truly an impressive look at a dying person and their loved ones. In a way, The Barbarian Invasions can be used as a metaphor for the entire contemporary Western world, where ideas of continuous progress and advancement, solving fundamental societal problems through ideologies, etc., are dying. The professor, as a staunch leftist, who devoted a significant part of his life to promoting various "isms," at the end of his journey is confronted with the desperate condition of state hospitals full of bureaucracy, incompetence, and corruption. His son has to bribe his students to come and visit their teacher, thus providing him with the illusion of interest. The man, who prides himself on his knowledge of culture and literature, must bitterly witness the fact that his offspring, who has not read a single book in his life and spends time playing video games, earns more in a few days than he does in a whole year. Essentially, it is an interesting film with decent performances, and if one overlooks the aforementioned flaws, they will be rewarded with a decent experience. Overall impression: 75%.

An animated slapstick combining 3 motifs - 1) The classic Hitchcock motif of a man wrongly accused of a crime, when he is also confronted and attacked by the real villain, who has hidden his loot with him, 2) coexistence with two domestic pets endowed with a peculiar character, and 3) a combination of two worlds - flat paper and multidimensional, where it is possible to penetrate from one dimension to another thanks to a mysterious phenomenon and experience an infinite number of entertaining and thrilling moments. There is a huge amount of ideas packed into a 30-minute spectacle. Overall impression: 75%.

This drama is greatly supported by the theme of political will, which even leads to judicial crimes. No system is immune to it, including that of a developed democracy with a long tradition. Where there is a political order to find the culprit at any cost, lawyers and police officers will twist the truth to satisfy the higher authorities. It was quite unnecessary to make the main character a bigger hero and more likable than he actually was. In this film, he has the nature of almost an intellectual and exceptional personality, while in reality, he was just a small thief whose family and acquaintances were crushed by history and institutions. Even the perpetrator can sometimes be a victim, and in the case of the main character, this is entirely true. The case of the Guildford Four, where a group of innocent people was imprisoned for 15 years, even though the real perpetrators of the crime were known for a long time, is reminiscent of the French Dreyfus affair and many other judicial crimes from recent history. Beyond that, the film suffers from being too long - I can imagine about 25 minutes being cut out - resulting in a slow pace. Overall impression: 75%.

Private Parts reminded me of a classic British joke about a countryman who travels to London and sees the monument of Admiral Nelson. "Who is that, good sir?" - "That's the man who made Great Britain what it is today." - "I feel it's terribly unfair to blame the decline of the monarchy on just one person." So, I finally discovered Howard Stern as the culprit who was responsible for the decline of quality public journalism, which had a great reputation and support in the 70s thanks to the uncovering of a series of corrupt and political scandals. Since the 80s, it has gradually been replaced by a more superficial, entertaining style, with tabloid sensations and cheap jokes taking center stage. The film itself is made with ease, it is appropriately entertaining, and the main character is undeniably likable - after all, he invested in it himself and wrote the story. As for his true nature and to what extent he actually corresponds to his image as an exemplary partner and father in reality, only he knows. Overall impression: 80%.

Kubín's peculiar fairy tales with difficult-to-absorb dialect were never loved by me as a reader, but in this film and with the performance of the excellent narrator Filipovský, it turned out very well and a humorous folk farce full of sexual innuendos and earthy wit was created. Overall impression: 95%.

The Bank Job only proves that Jason Statham being cast in stupid action flicks like The Transporter is unfortunate because he has more acting potential. I certainly wouldn't believe in him as Hamlet, but he has the ability to bring conviction to his action hero roles and act quite dynamically. The Bank Job can be considered an above-average modern crime story, and I actually thought about giving it five stars for quite a long time, because it has pace, style, tension, and an unpredictable plot right up until the end, and I didn't find any obvious mistakes in it either. I dare not estimate to what extent the plot corresponds to real events from British history, but it would be rational to assume that it is only loosely inspired by a period scandal because historians do not reveal details of such operations. It's nothing more than good entertainment, but you can never have enough of that. Overall impression: 80%.