The Good Soldier Shweik

It's hard to blame the film for its treatment of Hašek's classic, when the filmmakers of "our two good old" feature films once followed almost the same approach to its adaptation. Unlike this animated Schweik, however, Steklý's works boast above all unmistakable acting performances that make them into the right spectacle, and thanks to which the jokes and dialogue have the right energy. I can't help but think all the verbal shootouts and curses sounded awfully cheesy coming from those British-Ukrainian cartoon mouths. (31.12.2011)

Hašek's Shweik is undoubtedly, in both its book and film form, a Czech national classic. An unpleasant characteristic of such a classic is the fact that everyone has a precise idea of how the film should be, which lines must be included in which scene, which actor is indispensable, and which scenes are crucial. The trouble is that the novel belongs to a handful of works that have crossed national borders and gained worldwide recognition. And therefore, it has caught the attention of foreign producers and directors. There is nothing more unjust than shooting down a film with a vague justification that it lacks an understanding of Czech mentality and realities. I quite enjoyed this Ukrainian-British animated version and consider it a pleasant variation of the world of the Good Soldier Schweik. Overall impression: 70%. (27.06.2015)

It's not exactly what we might want, but it's a pleasant variation on the animated Shweik without the central fixation on Lada's illustrations. Although, it does have a certain fairy tale narrative and stylization, if I have to use those the dirty words. And Potměšil is pretty good. (10.04.2011)