School Is the Foundation of Life

Basically the same applies here as I wrote in Journey into the Depth of the Student's Soul: a golden gem of Czechoslovak pre-war cinema that has lost none of its brilliance and wit even after almost 80 years. The German and Latin classes in particular are amazing! (22/06/2012)

I have seen it at the theater, and this story is simply great. It is a comedy, and it even has a happy ending. However, I never understood this story as a complete comedy because the criticism of the educational system and how teachers approach teaching is just so good that it sometimes gives you chills. Some comedic scenes, however, are really excellent. (07/02/2015)

For the last few years, I've been amused mainly by how many thousands of reviews this particular film is getting. Otherwise, it absolutely stands out in the awareness of the entire classic era of Czech cinema and overshadows all the otherwise supposed highlights like Christian or Eva swaggering with stupidity. (16/02/2009)

A pleasant "student" classic that can entertain willingly (excellent script and great acting) - even unintentionally (cute naivety of some scenes and replicas, dubious age of the main actors). It's interesting how much this light satire retains its validity in certain aspects... And above all, it can still make the audience laugh. If it weren't for the stupid final run and the immortal gnaw of "we'll keep running forward" (apparently implanted later), it would be the perfect comedy... (25/04/2004)