Justice for Selwyn

Noli tacere. Just from the subject matter you can tell what year this was made. The problem is that Weiss doesn’t cut deep and the whole thing just skims the surface. You know what the filmmakers are trying to say, but they don’t succeed in putting it across. Too little satire for a satire, too little humor for a black comedy and too few dramatic moments for drama. Karel Čapek’s short story succeeded better in this, even though the resulting movie is a very free adaptation. And it’s a shame, because in terms of acting this movie is first-rate and also the background music is an outstanding example of Zdeněk Liška’s talent as a composer. (06/04/2008)