Zlaté rybičky

A delightfully bad, or rather very plastic, unbelievable, hysterical, and incredibly stupid showcase of the desperation of regular television productions from the late 1970s. But precisely because I fixate on the television form I subconsciously grew up with, I enjoy this film to the fullest. The stone-faced František Němec marching among those plastic sets and tormenting his poor wife Hana Maciuchová is truly lifeless. Hana is admirable, as she manages to combine her theatrical torturous performances while keeping that awful wig on her charming head, and she even knows how to carry herself in those fashion screams, of course, always in the fresh and still valid potato sack line. Also flawless is the duo Luděk Munzar and Petr Haničinec, without whom TV could not exist. Unfortunately, there's also the worn-out junkie played by Iva Janžurová, who was already preparing for the funeral of her own career. And what about Jiří Dohnal at the very end of his life? A charming old man with a dog? (12/04/2010)