Three Brothers

J’aurais plutôt imaginé l'instruction « sur le front, sur les seins, sur le nombril » dans un film d’un autre genre, mais soit. Il n’en reste pas moins que voir Jan et Zdeňek Svěrák ruiner leur propre réputation et renier tout leur talent est vraiment désespérant. (02/01/2021)

Quand quelqu’un se permet de critiquer, de rabaisser et de déformer un film qui excelle par son contenu et sa forme et a raflé une série de récompenses, il ferait mieux de mettre les bouchées doubles sur son prochain film. C’est que je n’ai pas encore réussi à digérer la façon dont Jan Svěrák a dénigré 12 Years a Slave. Par son attitude, il s’est en fait révélé être envieux, bas et totalement ignorant de l’Histoire. Je ne peux d’ailleurs m’expliquer sa façon incompréhensible de s’exprimer que par le fait qu’il ait été saoul ou drogué, ou alors qu’il n’ait tout simplement pas vu le film. Passons maintenant à Tři bratři. Si je m’abaissais au niveau de Svěrák et en considérant donc que 12 Years a Slave dissimulerait un fond pornographique et sadomaso, alors on pourrait dire que Le petit Chaperon rouge est, de son côté, du porno pédophile en puissance. Mais je ne veux pas me laisser aller à ce genre de conclusions. Si Svěrák a une haute estime de lui-même, il aurait pu essayer d’amener quelque chose de complètement nouveau, d’original, un conte créé de toutes pièces, affublé d’une intrigue débordante et ayant recours à de jolis costumes. Mais à la place, il nous sert un enchevêtrement confus de trois contes de fées populaires qu'il a dénaturés et littéralement mutilés. Le scénario est une grande tragédie, j’ai dû composer avec mon ennui en comptant désespérément les minutes dans l’espoir d’en avoir fini au plus vite. Dans le premier conte, il glisse dans les abysses les plus profonds de la parodie involontaire, de la maladresse et des aberrations narratives. Comme je déteste être négatif et lâcher des « Boo! », je vais mettre une malheureuse petite étoile pour le seul élément intéressant du tableau, à savoir Jiří Lábus, et parce que je reconnais que l’aspect visuel du film est relativement correct. Míčová et Kaiser sont d'excellents acteurs, mais il faudrait leur donner des rôles complètement différents ! C’est le troisième pire film de l’année 2014. (30/03/2015)

I'm more of an admirer of Zdeněk Svěrák's work than Jan Svěrák's, but this is probably the first time I'm dismissing his script. I am extremely bothered by the casting, where even in every one-shot role we have to have some of the popular actors. Some of the actresses like Čvančarová and Míčová are killing me because they don't even try to act in a way other than in their adult projects. Lábus seems to have long forgotten which sex he is and I could go on and on… The way the Red Riding Hood is done here leaves me at ease in the sense that the version with Zdena Kavková from 1920 remains completely untouched by this. Czech films have plenty of these princesses or girls and thus there is no reason to combine the classic pattern about the bewitched beauty with a child Little Red Riding Hood. However, the interaction with the audience up to about eight years of age works, and that seems to be enough to justify the existence of such a form. (29/08/2014)

In the best possible legacy of Jára Cimrman so charmingly "bad" (whether intentionally or not) with everything mixed up in one basket in a way that it's really good, stylish, nice and funny. Yes, the introduction in the castle and the whole "Sleeping Beauty" part was hard for me to watch (even though it has its bright moments), but the "over the top"" version of the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood and the "Frosty-style" fairy tale about the twelve months really got me. I liked it so much that I almost start singing with them out of joy. PS: And with each subsequent watching, I like it more and more. For many years I have not had any movie that would be the one for the annual Christmas screening. (24/12/2015)

Before I watched Three Brothers, I forbade myself to criticize two strong allergens - Mr. Dyk and Mr. Klus. In fact, a very similar resistance was caused in 1968 by the casting of Václav Neckář in The Incredibly Sad Princess ... And today, that fairytale is a classic, isn't it? But about Three Brothers - while I could find fault with it (for example, the wolf could have sung more and growled less, since he already had the voice of František Segrado), almost all of them immediately erase the feeling I got from the film. My smile was replaced by laughter from beginning to end, the amazing direction and rich set design, together with Uhlíř's superbly orchestrated music, ensured magnificence, while the cast was so unprecedented that I suddenly remembered Zdeněk Podskalský's musical comedies, in which everyone appeared, often for just a few seconds. What about Tomáš Klus and Vojtěch Dyk? You'd be surprised, but they're excellent. Klus is extremely likable as a romantic hero, Dyk has a decent comic talent - as does his third brother Zdeněk Piškula. Yes, the best part came at the beginning (the retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty) and the third fairytale has the weakest texts of all and the ending is a bit rushed, but I still won't give it a lower score. The fifth star is a bit of a knock on the low ratings here, which are often based on rather strange arguments (for example, that there is no evil in Three Brothers). (24/12/2014)