gudaulin

In terms of the genre, it is definitely an above-average film, and I can imagine that a similar story could be made in a much worse way. However, this film doesn't completely sit well with me. Nevertheless, my reservations will not be felt by most film fans. Essentially, they are aimed at whether you like the literary works of Dan Brown or Umberto Eco. Both write seemingly the same thing, but upon closer inspection, there is a fundamental difference between them. Umberto Eco writes with top-notch knowledge of history, aesthetics, and contemporary philosophy, so he places his characters and their destinies in a flawlessly historically accurate environment. On the other hand, Dan Brown writes his adventure stories with the knowledge that the historical reality is unimportant to the overwhelming majority of readers, so he throws it together somewhat haphazardly, and his books do not hold up under closer analysis. Of course, this doesn't matter to him in terms of achieving greater commercial success. Black Death functions as an adventurous and mysterious story, where the viewer can admire the dark atmosphere of a country ravaged by a devastating epidemic and the clash of religious values. Deep forests, bandits, and their bloody clash with an expedition, marshes engulfed in mist, and a mysterious village where witches rampage - all of these are genre props skillfully utilized, and together with solid casting, create a solid impression on the viewer. However, as a historical story, it does not hold up, because the conflict between Christianity and paganism was fought out centuries before, and Christianity successfully assimilated popular superstition and various cults. Individual religious heresies and conflicts occurred at a different level, but that is not essential for the average film fan. Rather, I am referring to those screenplay somersaults, such as when in a hopeless situation, two exhausted captive mercenaries, weakened by torture, suddenly free themselves from bondage and within a moment break the resistance of an entire rebellious village. Nevertheless, Black Death earns a solid overall impression of 60% from me.

An unconventional view of war and the army through the perspective of cooks and their field kitchens. Co-production and a decent budget allowed for a journey through various countries and historical periods, so the audience has the opportunity to confront the views of World War II veterans, through the Algerian war, and up to the present day. This way, we can understand certain contexts that escape us during a casual glance at news about the conflict in Chechnya or the Balkans. The Serbian cook brings a smile with the remark "We cooked against the Croats," while during the confession of the Croatian cook, I understood why I passed burnt Serbian villages during my journey through Croatia. During the confession of the Russian cook, we will understand how supply in the Russian Federal Army works - or rather doesn't work - and why units of the Russian army have to resort to looting. The German cook on the submarine, in addition to describing how he cooks for his colleagues in a miniature kitchen, manages to depict how he was the only one able to save himself when his ship sank. It is all presented with a certain ironic exaggeration, and the interviews are complemented by military recipes such as shashlik for one hundred thousand Soviet occupiers or bread for eighteen million German soldiers on the front lines of World War II. We also get a glimpse into the kitchen of Yugoslav leader Tito and can admire a charming female body adorned with cheeses and cured meats as a feast for the international elite. Overall impression: 70%. Do you know what would happen if all army cooks refused to cook? How does one of them respond to this question? Nothing, they would just have to leave the safety of their kitchen and go to the front lines...

Saint-Louis Blues is the story of seven passengers in a taxi in Dakar, who are trying to get to the town of Saint-Louis Blues, and their random encounter is at least marked in some cases. The overall banal story is enhanced by the form of a musical and the interesting, vividly exotic environment of the West African metropolis. I cannot appreciate or rather correctly evaluate the singing aspect, but the actors are likable and the young black girls are very attractive. I had a good time with it. Overall impression: 75%.

A sympathetic short that mocks the diametrically different civilizational attitudes of a French farmer in the remote countryside and a Parisian who may excel in computers and mobile phones, but appears as a revelation in the countryside. The farmer's life in a globalized world exposed to competition from agricultural products of the third world is difficult, so the farmer decides he could start crossbreeding those strange creatures from the city with chickens and export the products. It is, of course, a comically sarcastic exaggeration - actually, a filmed anecdote. Overall impression: 90%.

The protagonist of the film is a boy who is supposed to take over the tailor shop of his master, who is suffering from an incurable disease. He doubts himself and is somewhat scared of the idea of ​​having to make a living with needle and thread and thus copying his teacher's path for his whole life. In the midst of this, he meets a charming girl who is trying her hand at an artistic career as an actress in a Parisian theater. Suddenly, a difficult choice arises - to leave his sick master and accompany his girlfriend on tour or to stay and ease the dying of his mentor. An interestingly shot and strongly cast medium-length film for festival audiences. Overall impression: 60%.

One shoemaker workshop, whose best times of prosperity are clearly long gone, and one visit of a son who makes a living as a screenwriter. Or rather, he tries to make a living, because apparently, he is at rock bottom and longs to escape the hopeless situation by returning to the family tradition. However, his brother, who helps their father in the workshop, has a similar sense of futility but instead longs to have a business in the film industry. Despite a certain bitterness, the meeting of losers is touching and it is evident that the Jewish family of small craftsmen knows how to stick together. Overall impression: 55%.

It is quite possible that When We Leave has some sense and plot, but unfortunately it completely escaped me because this short film so perfectly poisoned me that I only struggled with sleepiness and I only remember the final intercourse. During the screening, about 12 unhappy souls left the sparsely occupied hall, who were poisoned by Foirest's festival escapade just like me. Overall impression: 5% for those naked bodies.

A man stands next to an attractive woman on the bus, whose hands subtly slide into a position where they meet his palm. Who wouldn't perceive this as a challenge, perhaps even to something more interesting? The man approaches the woman, but to his surprise, she rejects him. Her behavior doesn't have as simple an explanation as the man originally presumed. You see, this woman suffers from a remarkable quirk. Her hands are somewhat restless and engage in activities contrary to their owner's wishes. It's essentially nonsense, but well-directed and fortunately of reasonable duration. Overall impression: 50%.

When looking at Gérard Depardieu's filmography from the last decade, it is necessary to point out that according to all signs, he is suffering from great social deprivation, as he takes practically any offer and has turned from a former cinematic gem and export article into tacky costume jewelry adorning antiquated trinkets. Proof that he has not forgotten how to act and that his film roles are not just a result of a lost gamble is his supporting role as a gangster in Mesrine: Killer Instinct and, above all, his leading role in this film. Mammuth is a meritorious worker in a slaughterhouse who, for ten years, has not protested against any assigned task, and has hardly ever spoken. His thought world is simple and he is grateful for the demanding physical labor that doesn't require him to employ brain cells. He is perfectly taken aback by the fact that he has reached retirement age and his carefully planned simple world suddenly receives a significant blow. With his clumsiness, it is difficult for him to adapt to changes and solve trivial life problems. Even just shopping at the supermarket, he is capable of causing such chaos that the viewer's eardrums tremble for several minutes. It is all the more difficult for Mammuth to handle the arrangements for his old-age pension. He has changed jobs many times and given his aversion to paperwork, it is evident that he is missing a lot of important documents. Under relentless pressure from his wife, he hops onto an ancient motorcycle and the film morphs into a somewhat bizarre road movie about his past, during which he encounters not only a remarkable assortment of former employers but also forgotten family ties. The whole story unfolds in a tragicomic spirit and with a special poetic exaggeration. Just a glance at the hulking figure with the face of a retired boxer after a series of crushing defeats, with long hair and a perpetually bewildered expression, adds a lot of depth to this film. I was a little bothered by the hallucinogenic storyline with Isabelle Adjani, but in any case, it is an amiable human film that, in a few places, exceeds the boundaries of political correctness as perceived by the bourgeois. Overall impression: 80%.

Weekend at Dunkirk somewhat deceives us. The presence of Jean-Paul Belmondo, but also, for example, Pierre Mondy, entices film fans with expectations of a lighthearted war romp like The Seventh Company or an adventurous film full of heroic acts, masculinity, and coolness. However, this film is tuned to a tragic tone because it depicts the bitterness of defeat after a lightning-fast German invasion of France. Allied units are cramped into a small enclave near Dunkirk, and not only every day but literally every hour, surrender and capture loom. Despite heavy losses during continuous bombing, soldiers desperately try to board British ships, and our hero is no exception. He fires only once during the 48 hours that our story takes place, and it is characteristic that his fellow soldiers fall victim. Belmondo, in contrast to his traditional roles, remains moderate in his acting and the overall atmosphere plays a leading role. The camera captures crowd scenes of men squeezed onto the beach and a huge amount of war machinery abandoned on access roads. At that time, it must have been a very expensive film, even though there were surely models involved, but today it would be almost unfinanceable. Overall impression: 80%.