gudaulin

In its time, it was definitely a remarkable and above-average film, although it has certainly aged and if I give it 3 stars today, it's mainly for the cast and corresponding performances. Otherwise, the script is unfinished and based on a dysfunctional idea. If it were really like this, it would be excessively convoluted and mainly foolish from the tenant's side because an African dictator would inevitably see a similar course of action as a violation of the painstakingly negotiated agreement. It would be much simpler to inform the African party about the kidnapping and attack on the base during negotiations and use it as a bonus in negotiating the price. The result would be a trap, where the commando would be eliminated during parachute drop or possibly during an attempt to attack the barracks. Why would the regime waste its elite soldiers and risk a long pursuit and search operations? Moreover, the investor would save money on the plane and complications. The action scenes are filmed pathetically and somewhat naively, but Burton and Harris can be forgiven for a lot of things due to their charisma and displayed machismo. Besides, the film doesn't just strive for action, but also for a certain intellectual superstructure. Overall impression: 55%.

A poster-like Paris, photogenic destinies, color print film... This is a typical festival film that tries to sell the atmosphere of Paris, movie stars, and calculated emotions. But Paris should evoke a dreamy and captivating mood, not a sense of noble boredom. The film just barely earns 3 stars, solely due to the presence of sympathetic Juliette Binoche and Fabrice Luchini and a few successful scenes. Otherwise, it reminded me of cheap ice cream with lots of artificial coloring and inferior sweeteners. Overall impression: 50%.

A film like this could have been filmed by Ed Wood if he had at least a dose of the talent and charisma that Tim Burton gave him, and if he had the appropriate support from the studio and the resulting budget. It's stupid, with ridiculous dialogues and scenes that don't work, terrible special effects, and crazy characters, but it's stupid in an entertaining way, so it can be a good choice for fans of campy productions. For a normal film fan, it is despair personified. In the age of video production, which has made filmmaking so affordable that today several enthusiasts can make their own film for pocket money and upload it online, I dare not estimate where the true bottom of filmmaking is, so I won't throw S.S. Doomtrooper into the rankings of the worst films in history. Overall impression: 5%.

An interesting film, in many ways similar to American History X, mainly because it can easily serve as a film intended to be shown in schools and can be contemplated and discussed during civics lessons. Unfortunately, just like its American sibling, it suffers from simplification and schematism, which detracts from its persuasiveness and authenticity. I do not diminish the impact of The Wave and what it wants to convey, as it does so clearly and effectively. But in reality, it wouldn't work like this. The point is that a similar pathological process could occur somewhere in a closed community without access to the media and disruptive influences of relatives, friends, and state power. The present time does not favor totalitarian ideologies based on mass participation at all, because it is highly atomized due to the information explosion and the ubiquitous influence of the media. These students are of different nationalities, religions, and cultures, and the cohesive element is harder to find than in the 1930s. Moreover, the film directed by Dennis Gansel suffers from the overblown ending with the smell of gunpowder and iron on the hands. It is probably because the message to teenagers had to be as powerful as possible, but in this case, less would have been more. Overall impression: 65%.

I can't say that I was bored by Black Book, but Paul Verhoeven's film vision simply went completely beyond me. I expect realism, credibility, rawness, and authenticity from this sort of film. Verhoeven offers the exact opposite - pure Hollywood style that is far from reality, for which no studio from the so-called Majors would have to be ashamed. Verhoeven, as is his custom, offers great visuals, attractive women who are not afraid to show more of their curves, and at the same time offers passion, intrigue, conspiracies, and quasi-war scenes, as is customary in such stylized Hollywood productions of war melodramas. It is artificial, contrived, and in some moments truly silly in both imagery and dialogue. But if someone wants a spectacle, they will get it here. For me, Black Book represents a perfect contrast to, for example, the excellent Czech war film Death Is Called Engelchen. That film earned 5 stars from me, while Verhoeven's film only gets two. Overall impression: 45%.

Marriage with Strings Attached in many ways can't deny its origin in the Czech New Wave of the 1960s. It features black and white cinematography focusing on natural dialogues without romanticizing moments, and psychological characterization of the characters, and is simply a decent film of its time. Interestingly, the beautiful Drahokoupilová was systematically cast by directors in roles of monsters. Although it wasn't the main focus, the film also tells a lot about the atmosphere of its era when it was necessary to fake a marriage in order to live in the city of one's choice. Bureaucracy and the non-existent housing market, along with the command system, simply played their roles. Overall impression: 60%.

A Game Without Rules didn't convince me enough to give it more than 2*. A solid concept and decent cast of actors, in my opinion, can't overshadow the fact that Jindřich Polák was still trying to find his way to his more famous projects and the direction simply didn't convince me. Compared to modern dynamic thrillers, the ´film simply cannot hide the flaws in the script, predictability, and annoying moments with whining music that is supposed to create a sense of tension. Overall impression: 45%. However, back in its time, A Game Without Rules stood out simply by suppressing the ideologicalness and genre clichés of previous works.

Kusturica rides on the rails that he had already laid out in his previous films, such as Black Cat, White Cat, or Hungry Heart, meaning it is a highly stylized Balkan slapstick, underpinned with emotional musical rhythms and filled with a bunch of eccentric characters, who are not really from our world but are highly entertaining. Indeed, Promise Me This doesn't reach the quality of the cult film Black Cat, White Cat, as its screenplay starts off a bit slow, and especially with such a large number of characters, scenes, and motifs, some may seem too outrageous, unsympathetic or dysfunctional. Similarly, these motifs are no longer original from Kusturica, but if we were to criticize Woody Allen for his plethora of neurotic intellectuals, then his filmography would greatly thin out and compared to Woody, Kusturica still holds back a lot in terms of the quantity of his productions. On the other hand, the film is still highly entertaining for me, and unlike a lot of pretentious pseudo-intellectual boredom that characterizes a substantial part of festival films, this one is functional. Moreover, I don't know how Kusturica does it, but his completely improbable love constellations between very incompatible partners really affect me. I don't know where he finds these likable women, but just like Hungry Heart, I was rooting for Tsane the whole time, hoping his romance would work out. Overall impression: 90%.

Practically none of the television and film documentaries about Czech post-revolution but actually socialist politicians can be considered a success, and they mostly fail due to their inability to analyze his life from all sides and with a truly independent perspective. Usually, this defect manifests in the author's relationship to the subject of his work. This flaw is fully evident in Citizen Havel as well. It records Havel's life, his opinions, and actions wherever the president allows the film to go. The documentary is co-directed by Václav Havel, and even though it seems to reveal unfavorable aspects of his persona, it is all within the framework of his directorial license. Havel was always more of an intellectual and primarily an artist, who was unable to influence the political developments around him according to his ideas precisely because he didn't understand political processes at all, and his numerous attempts to influence the Czech political scene regularly ended in a disaster and had the opposite effect than intended. Havel disliked political institutions and especially political parties, so he persistently tried to ignore them and relied on strong personalities among his friends, regardless of how willing political parties were to accept them. His political views are neither left nor right-leaning. However, they are strongly elitist; I think they resemble how the Iranian Islamic Republic operates, a certain "democracy" run by a council of the wise. His international reputation was influenced by the Secret Police and the communist government that harassed him. If it weren't for real socialism, he would probably have ended up as one of many left-wing salon intellectuals with impractical, detached-from-reality but radical ideas on how to save the world. Specifically, Havel only allows filmmakers to get close to him where he deems it appropriate. He would only let you form a comprehensive opinion about him in your dreams. If you already have the ideas that the film tries to sell about Havel before watching it, then you should not hesitate to visit the movie theater. However, if you keep a distance from him and his ideas, you won't find ammunition for criticism, and overall, it's a waste of time because a quality documentary should focus more on content than form. Overall impression: 40%.

I admit that I approached Red as an action comedy with a certain disdain because I usually don't appreciate action nonsense, and when I hear the term "action actor," I instantly get a rash. And behold - this film won me over. It's good enough to cast actors who have facial expressions and acting talent, instead of desperados who spend their whole lives in the gym. It's good enough to act with a suitable dose of irony, humor, and nobility, and most importantly, to stay somewhat grounded when massacring hordes of enemies. Red is somewhat more intimate compared to its genre siblings, giving more space to dialogue, quotes, and the main stars - Bruce Willis from the older generation and Karl Urban from the younger one, who, alongside their exceptional physical condition, are very decent character actors. Bruce Willis also excels at self-irony, which he has been honing since the days of Moonlighting. Any fan who has seen a few of his films will recall specific scenes and shots from his filmography when seeing his face, his raised eyebrows, and his dry lines. Great character actors also work well in supporting roles, which you wouldn't expect in an action movie, led by Helen Mirren, who fearlessly fires a heavy machine gun. Add to that Mary-Louise Parker, for whom I have a weakness, who carries the romantic storyline of the film, and above all, the insane John Malkovich, whose paranoia and pink piglet he drags around everywhere led me to want to give Red five stars. It is a very enjoyable and memorable film. Overall impression: 75%.