Hany

An empty emptiness that says nothing, even about emptiness itself. If this is supposed to be an attempt to diagnose generational frustration, only nicely-filmed generational clichés have been created. Screenwriting exercises with poorly-constructed characters, uninterestingly stagnant situations which, even when filmed in one (three) shot(s) do not create the impression of fluidity of time and space, but rather disconcerted volatility from detail to detail, and from there to a helplessly cycled whole. The naturalness of the conversation is constantly brought down by the fact that the characters, in addition to the constant babble, also emphasize the wearing of masks and the exhibitionist covering of their own insignificance (it is sometimes so stubbornly literal that it seems completely unrealistic). The essence of frustration and aggression probably unintentionally appears here as something that the creators secretly fear from behind safe cafe windows, but they are not able to give it a meaningful shape and motivation. When Samir refers to the London Riots, in relation to Hany I remember the mocking chorus of the destructive symphony of London rapper Plan B: "Oiy! I said Oiy! / What you looking at you little rich boy! / We're poor 'round here, run home and lock your door / don't come 'round here no more, you could get robbed for." From the youngest generation, I would expect radicality, irritability, subversiveness, not comfortable undiscovered stereotypes. I really can go squat in Hany Bany and stare dumbly on the street, where the same empty, irrelevant, but noticeably screaming nothing has been going on for years. Two stars for the courage to try to film differently and Žiaran's quite impressive camera. [40%] (28.04.2014)

Obviously, making a feature film with just three cuts must have been extremely challenging. The inexhaustible number of characters, wild parties, night tram rides and demonstrations in the streets all work much better than I expected (and when I compare Hany to other pictures from abroad filmed with a minimum of shots, this Czech film is clearly ahead of the pack). It is a bit of a pity that Hany lacks a more pronounced plot arc and instead offers "only" short snippets of various situations with which it sets a mirror for current generations, and expresses itself through banal dialogues to fundamental topics (violence in humans, boredom culminating in aggression). The film then processes them in a way that tend to be rather awkward in Czech films about contemporary youth, but that is not the case here. If there is hope and fresh blood somewhere in the contemporary Czech film world that promises an influx of enthusiastic pulsating energy, it is definitely the creative team of Michal Samir and Matěj Chlupáček. (30.06.2014)

Although this format is good and I admire anyone who ventures into shooting without editing, that is really the only thing I could and would admire. Otherwise, it seems incredibly empty to me and just a demonstration of uninteresting characters - at least uninteresting to me - that I don't want to watch. Each of them is annoying in some way, especially Jiří Kocman. Neither of them actually has anything to say. (13.05.2016)