7 dní hříchů

I am terribly happy for any film that shatters the conventional view of the brutal post-war purge of the Sudetenland, but why is it done in such an uninteresting way as in this case? This is a rudimentary fable in which the characters utter unnatural and screwed-up dialogue (I had the same problem with Habermann's Mill, and lo and behold, the same screenwriter!), and Ondřej Vetchý's character and his German wife spend the vast majority of the runtime fleeing the wrath of the Revolutionary Guards, from place to place, over and over again, until the film becomes monotonous and tiresome. The icing on the cake is the unintentionally funny ending, which slips into self-parody. There aren’t many films about post-war displacement, but comparisons can still be made, and both Adelheid and the problematic Habermann's Mill are of much greater narrative and emotional value. I feel sorry for Ondřej Vetchý, who played his role with dignity and passion, unfortunately, in a bad film. (28.07.2012)

The Central Europe is riding on the wave of self-criticism and the main, gratifying topic is WWII. After the Habermann’s Mill, 7 days of Sin shows us how the Czechs behaved towards everyone with German nationality without considering if they were for or against the Nazis. Evidently it was a sad period of history but I am quite glad that both of these movies were created. But the filmmaking craftsmanship in the Habermann’s Mill is a lot better. 7 days of Sin, on the other hand, has better actors. Vica Kerekes and Ondřej Vetchý are great in this movie. It is with the screenplay and production where I see the problem. Where Mr. Herz was able to make a small scene at the train station so memorable that I remember it till this day, the train station scene in 7 days of Sin was very confusing. The beginning of the movie is great. It starts with introducing the premise from which it is more or less apparent what will happen in this movie. Somewhere around the middle of the movie I began to get bored because the main characters were just going to and fro from point A to point B and there was no story development. And at the end of the movie it even started to be illogical. Especially the character portrayed by Schmitzer was like from some really cheap novel. I have to say that it is enough for the 3 stars rating but such a topic deserves a 5-star movie I would never forget. (28.08.2019)

In Habermann's Mill, Herz introduced us to the theme of his life and pointed out the transformations of human nature, which of course began before the war and were not the result of momentary post-war euphoria from suppressed hatred. The drama 7 Days of Sin seems to want to continue this thematically - the Sudeten theme is far from exhausted - but the resulting film is sheer despair. Scholastic lectures, dysfunctional framing, a poorly constructed script... The drama doesn't work, the characters are not alive, and the German spoken here sounds like prep school German with a smile. Their fragmented form is more or less laughable, and although the ambitions were high and some of the characters could explain a lot to the current generation, inspiring them to take an interest in their own past, the imaginary scales are tipped again and the only fair guy from the top becomes the Soviet. One solution would be to experience with the protagonists only the seven days on the move during the constant confusion, extreme pace, and uninterrupted fear for their lives, or to give them a more dense experience during the Protectorate so that the viewer could develop a certain relationship with them. This is just a hybrid that isn't afraid to develop marginalia from married life in the most completely inappropriate situations, playing on the same vanity that the opening scenes that the problematic film The Butcher of Prague also had. The resulting dimension of such details is highly fatal. ___ Ondřej Vetchý tries very hard but doesn't distinguish his role from anything he's done in the past, Vica Kerekes is currently popular because she has a routine of shedding her tops (and here Chlumský adds a fetish for multiple pissing), and the only decent actor here was the necessary Igor Bareš. Unfortunately, Chlumský's previous films dealing with war themes have indicated a very downward trend. (09.11.2012)

It is evident that the film tries to draw attention to a rather complicated time. It is true that immediately after the war, Czechs behaved like beasts. I do not want to excuse or criticize that behavior. I did not experience that time, I did not experience the war. Even though we think we know how we would have acted, we can never be certain unless we actually experience it. But instead of creating something truly powerful, terrifying, reflecting the time and individual events, from one perspective or another, the filmmakers decided on a strange romance against the backdrop of historical events. No reflection of the time, no attempt to explain, just the desire of one man to see his wife again. In this case, the rather restrained acting of most actors does not work too well. Where the hell have the emotions gone? (03.01.2014)