NinadeL

It's not quite the best, but it's obviously a very good documentary. But it’s too bad that there is already a lot of familiar material from Sommerová's earlier work with Červená, for example My 20th Century. The captions are missing (when Koura, for example, was not introduced) and the photo from "Carmen" (still the same) appears too often. Some of the cuts are not sensitive enough (no sooner does the opera aria reverberate than the bustle of the street and its music begins). The same is true for the characteristics that Sommerová associates (the realities of Berlin are not always negative connotations for Červená, but the music is demonic), etc. The shot of Soňa on the Vltava River is also slowly but surely becoming kitsch... But these are small things. The meeting with Horáková's daughter, the memories of the parents, and the overall personality of Červená are great. It’s good to consider this documentary simply as part of the puzzle of the phenomenal life of Červená.

Bullshit. Yeah, I could express my thoughts in a more subtle and laconic way, i.e., that it’s simply uselessness. So why did I give it one star? For the little film within the film with Michelle. We hadn't seen her playing the role of the sassy little MILF (supposedly the biblical Eve) for a long time, which in and of itself was a small gig in spite of everything and all her teammates.

An explicitly weak affair, but with very current trends that younger viewers can easily identify with. Or YouTubers, lesbians, black women, heterosexuals coming out, relationship chaos, or unusual communication between parents and children. Analysts would have a field day with it.

This is a film with a challenging journey to find its way to the audience and is currently struggling for attention, given that it’s playing in a few movie theaters. However, it should be noted that the final experience you get if you manage to see the film is exceedingly good and interesting. This psychological drama is about the inner world of the protagonist, who undergoes a fundamental transformation. This transformation is triggered by her new motherhood, and for the first time she asks herself new questions about her relationship with her mother, or rather finds a parallel between the estrangement that prevails between her and her mother and that is creeping in between her and her three-month-old daughter. Absence of Closeness brings up a taboo, uneasy subject, and devotes itself to a view of motherhood that is not popular. It handles it very sensitively. The dialogues between the daughter and the adult mother are raw and unpleasant, but realistic, as are the attempts at reconciliation, which neither of them has a chance to fully appreciate. After a series of weak performances and compromises, Jana Plodková, in the lead role this time, acts with an exquisite inwardness and feeling, which is a position I didn't expect from her anymore. The other actors play to her strengths, especially Anna Cónová, who rarely appears in films for cinema, and Luboš Veselý, whose tiny drawings in any small space are often a joy to look at because they are as precise as a watch. The overall minimalist conception, which is entirely subordinated to highlighting the inner world of the main character, is ideally chosen in pastel colors with an emphasis on blue, in gradual darkness with good composition, so that the film is pleasant to watch even in moments of calm between significant shifts in the plot.

The character Hurvínek’s (Harvie) journey through the silver screen is includes educational, cartoon, puppet, black and white, color and 3D films. Hurvínek was the hero of adaptations of theater plays for both the young and old, and he also became famous in his own bedtime story. There is plenty more I could mention about him. So is it possible to wonder and not cheer for Hurvínek in 2017? Besides him being very funny and good? Hardly. The only thing I wonder about is that the puppet has eyelids when transposed into 3D, which is sad because Hurvínek already had eyelids in 1936.

A psychological film that is particularly interesting as a co-production. It's nice to see the realities of 1960s Prague in color with Jeanne Moreau in the lead role. What does it matter that the relationships here are somewhat over the top and underdeveloped at the same time? The aforementioned diverse range of Czechoslovak co-productions and, for example, the charmingly tender lesbian subtext between Moreau as the theater designer and Joëlle LaTour as the dancer from the Amazon ballet are a few of the positives.

A beautiful combined puppet and cartoon cultural film. We learn how radio works in a practical and playful way. At the same time, we get to enjoy Skupa's classic Hurvajz, which is by far the cutest animation, especially when he travels through the sky on a crescent moon and tunes the long and short waves to listen to a song on the radio.

While Spejbl and Hurvínek made their real film debut in a silent commercial in 1930, this is their first talking and sound film. The half-hour play, accompanied by an excellent foxtrot song, is pleasant and entertaining. If you still love Skupa's voice on records, he will literally charm you in the film.

A pretty great debut for Spejbl and Hurvínek. The commissioner of the puppet advertisement was the Bratislava-based Emailit, a manufacturer that has thus reached the level of other strong brands with good marketing. Why beat around the bush when it's clear to everyone that a new bathtub is better than an old wooden bathtub?

The first of a series of Czech commercials with Felix. It's hard to assess the whole situation today; we don't know, for example, how many real Felixes were seen. The marketing of original American cartoons in the Czechoslovakia of the time was not completely sophisticated and although many typical figures were known, there was no access to the whole series in chronological order. I wouldn't be too surprised if the idea for the Felix ad came indirectly. Nevertheless, it is a rarity that is worthy of attention and today we can be glad that we can comfortably watch the original and the Czech version.