kaylin

A German film that - at least at first glance - deals with the country's past and its darker sides in an interesting way. However, it's also a rather drawn-out narrative about people who are often interesting mainly because they are direct and not afraid to show more on camera than we would expect elsewhere.

George A. Romero said goodbye to the genre with Survival of the Dead, and it's clear that it's a rather mediocre goodbye, perhaps even below average for some. Nevertheless, you have to give him credit for managing to get some ideas into a fairly ordinary plot framework that harkens back to the socially critical skills he demonstrated in his first zombie trilogy.

The story of Poland and its anti-communist hero, Walesa, is quite similar to that of the Czechs, because we lived through the revolution together, when they had Walesa and we had Havel. And similarly, the revolution was made by ordinary people who stood up to the regime. Yet Wajda also knows it's not that simple, and he presents this in his film, though not in a truly striking way.

Vít Klusák is good at picking a controversial topic and then making a film that almost convinces you that there are people who are bastards and that there is something wrong with the system. It shows the naivety of people, their stupidity, but also their willingness to shit on others for money. It's not surprising, but it's sadly true. So what did the documentary achieve? In the end, nothing...

For me, this is a film where especially Jiřina Bohdalová and Radoslav Brzobohatý show their acting mastery at an age when many people are already giving up on life. Indeed, they are great and can't be faulted for anything. I wasn't impressed with the story itself, but I was impressed with the performances, which were spiced up with nice supporting characters and confident direction by Strach.

Interesting movie, which is presented as a comedy, but it is smart enough to make you think about who we actually are, what we are capable of, and willing to do for others in our lives. Will we run away when immediate danger threatens us, or will we first want to save our loved ones?

Waxworks is conceived differently from its younger American successors, but it is still a film that is interesting mainly because of its execution. The distorted images and beautiful backdrops are an element that can captivate you if you have a feel for art and let yourself be swayed by the images that are presented within the simple storyline. The Germans of that time knew how to make good films.

The plot is perhaps quite simple and the characters at times act in a way that is slightly annoying in how childish it is, but on the other hand, this is primarily a musical, and as such, it works. There are some entertaining numbers, but above all there is good music that is memorable and pushes the entire film to a higher level.

For this film, I felt that director Paddy Breathnach was very much inspired by Almodóvar's style and made something quite similar to All About My Mother. It has a similar atmosphere, although it's true that Viva has a darker overall feel. Nevertheless, the setting and characters are generally good and make the film worth watching.

Calling this a sequel probably doesn't quite make sense, as it's a sequel only in that the same characters return from the first film. It's not really connected in terms of plot, it's more like two independent episodes. Yet the second one is so magically strange that it will catch your attention once more.