NinadeL

A low-budget adaptation of the second book from the series "The Wizard of Oz." The second part, The Marvelous Land of Oz, was completely unknown to me for many years. Therefore, it is interesting to see a separate adaptation, even though it is at the level of a weak television production. The costumes are funny, and the set design is not worth mentioning, but strangely, it is very pleasant to watch. We meet the Tin Man again, the Cowardly Lion, and the good witch Glinda. L. Frank Baum wrote the sequel as a direct response to the desire of many children who fell in love with the land of Oz thanks to the original book and the first play. Thus, he established a phenomenon of gigantic proportions. He completed the basic 14 books during his lifetime, and many more sequels have been published since then. I would definitely include this treat in the series of the most interesting Baum adaptations, alongside The Wizard of Oz (1939), The Wiz (1978), Return to Oz (1985), Tin Man (2007), and Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013).

Her Doctor is a transcript of a classic comedy in three acts, "Zázračný lékař" (The Miracle Doctor), written by Bedřich Vrbský. For Vrbský, it was an exceptional opportunity to see how his concept transformed on the silver screen. The resulting film is a pleasant variation of the most popular concept of the 1930s, a comedy full of confusion. The couple of Hugo Haas and Lída Baarová is wonderfully cute, Míla Reymonová and Vladimír Borský bravely work alongside them, and the older couple of Jindřich Plachta and Antonie Nedošinská is routine itself. A sweet, affectionate film.

Another co-production film on the theme of the Terezín Ghetto loosely follows another co-production film The Last Butterfly (1990). It is a slightly different view of the events that are known thanks to the infamous propaganda documentary The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews (1944). This time, the main character is not a French mime, but an Italian clarinetist. Some personalities such as Hans Krása (Jan Révai), Viktor Ullmann (Petr Vaněk), Rafael Schächter (Cesare Bocci), Petr Kien (Marek Lambora), and Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (Maia Morgenstern) are portrayed with the appropriate reverence. But the actors playing negative characters - Bořek Slezáček, Karel Dobrý, and Marián Mitaš as SS guards, and Antónia Lišková as a female guard - also delivered quality performances. I wouldn't hesitate to include this project among the key materials that help with the teaching of history in school.

The current hit by Yorgos Lanthimos, nominated for an extraordinary number of awards, is based on Alasdair Gray's book "Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer" (1992). Gray is often compared to James Joyce, and that is why it is so easy to succumb to the impression of Lanthimos' genius, whose contribution, however, lies only in the combination of Gray's pseudo-Victorian novel with Frankenhooker (1990) by Frank Henenlotter. I perceive many other references, whether it's Freaks or Elephant Man, but the whole is an exceptionally charming pastiche. There is no need to elaborate on the magical performances of Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Hanna Schygulla, and Margaret Qualley because it must have been a joy to work on such a creative film. Mary Shelley would surely be thrilled.

After the success of the novel "The Tobacconist," filmmakers are once again choosing the theme provided by Robert Seethaler. A Whole Life is a fictionalized declaration of love for the harsh beauty of the Alpine Valley. As a dramatic arc, it depicts the life of an ordinary person whose fate was shaped by the 20th century with all its positives and negatives. A spiritual connection between man and the landscape, between life and death. A strong experience in the best tradition of mountain films.

This film production was defined by the Hollywood situation in the early 60s, with posters advertising CinemaScope and De Luxe colors, and its theme song was nominated for an Oscar... The previous film by director Henry King was F. Scott Fitzgerald's biopic Beloved Infidel, yet even with such exposure, it did not help create the ideal adaptation. Perhaps if Jane Fonda, who was interested in the role of Rosemary, had been given the opportunity, there would have been more interest in the film even today, with a chance for a better copy. Because that's all it is about: slow widescreen color images that have no substance or soul, and of course, fail miserably as a period piece because it is impossible to believe in the 1920s even by mistake. Relatively decent adaptations of Scott's stories only began to emerge in the 70s and beyond. I'm quite looking forward to the BBC series Tender Is the Night.

It's too ambitious and at the same time too weak. It has no particular genre and it is uncertain. Is it a thriller? Is it a crime story? A drama? A period piece? A psychological film? A modern melodrama? Nobody knows, but many viewers applaud it because it's simply different. Some are distracted by the picturesque Tatra Mountains and the setting of the Baťa plant. Other viewers are drawn in by the hermaphroditism and few see how weak the psychological connection between the main characters is, the interactions between the supporting characters are rushed, and although We Have Never Been Modern has successful camera work, set design, costumes, and mask, it only loosely adheres to the reality of 1937. These are actors adjusted to the latest trends of barber shops, jerseys, and hoodies... which are understandable today, but nonsensical in the given period piece. Some details are successful, such as the use of František Krištof Veselý's song, but the whole fails. Whether as a crime, drama, or educational film.

An updated transcript of the story "Babylon Revisited" (1930), which was published in the Saturday Evening Post and The Telegraph in 1931. Sobriety from the Jazz Age is replaced by post-war depression, which was never the same, but so be it. In the 1950s, they searched for a way to film F. Scott Fitzgerald's texts mainly in American television, and this is the only feature film of that decade. The performance of the emerging star Elizabeth Taylor is important, while everything else is relatively insignificant, including the too-obvious effort to transform the main character Charles Wills (played by Van Johnson) to merge with Fitzgerald's fictional alter ego. That was especially vain because as we know, Fitzgerald died even before Pearl Harbor.

It really seems that the Jutland heathland represents something exceptional and inspiring for Ida Jessen, as she can easily situate the story there in the 18th and 20th centuries. The true story of Ludvig von Kalhene (1700-1774), of course, differs greatly from the fictional and subsequent film version, but this certainly doesn't disrupt the viewer's experience. Zentropa (with generous support from Czech craftsmen) released a pleasing film, with Mads Mikkelsen as its main asset, and his fight for survival. It is all wrapped in drama cut from Diana Gabaldon's novels, the villain is very negative, the nobility degenerated, and the common people wear their hearts on their sleeves. A Royal Affair was good, and this is also a very gratifying viewer experience.

František Kriegel (1908-1979) certainly deserved his own film because the previous political figure portrayed in other films dedicated to the August days was obviously insufficient. Unfortunately, once again, we only received an expanded view of the invasion; Kriegel's medical practice and his days in Soviet prison, where he did not meet with Brezhnev, were complemented by classical images. His wife, Riva (1908-2001), also received minimal space. However, to appreciate his stance and at least partially understand him, a true biography of a Galician Jew would have to be filmed, one who studied medicine at the German University in Prague during the Republic, fought in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, and so on – and even then, we would only be at the beginning. The 20th century sometimes beautifully reflected the fates of individuals like that, whose paths and motivations we should know better. Unfortunately, Petr Nikolaev's film is hardly sufficient; the performances by Tomáš Töpfer and Zuzana Mauréry are excellent, but the whole film is truncated, and the casting of Adrian Jastraban as Husák does not help, especially considering that the same actor played Dubček and similar careless mistakes. The Man Who Stood in the Way may be a good film for someone who is just starting with the topic, but a viewer who has seen many documentaries and is also familiar with the British film Invasion, or the aforementioned Dubček, will be more critical.