gudaulin

Little Girl Blue is the first title from the creative workshop of Alice Nellis, considered a significant talent of Czech cinema since her debut, which I have watched. In other words, after 15 years of her work, I have come across her first film, which suggests that I have been somewhat missing out on her films. This is also confirmed by my impression of the film, which has a large group of enthusiastic fans, including many of my favorite users, but personally, I am reserved about it. It will receive three stars from me, but this rating only applies as part of Czech cinema, which I usually overestimate by a few percent. I have, for example, problems with the dream dance scenes, which are probably meant to give the film an artistic overflow. However, they seemed rather disruptive and artificial to me. The lead actress, Iva Bittová, represents more of an interesting curiosity than a pillar on which the film can rely. In principle, it works, but it feels more like naturalism. This role needed a top-notch character actress who was confident in psychologically demanding positions. I don't know what it is, but I also had problems with the sound, as I had to replay some scenes repeatedly. Overall impression: 60%.

Revenge tastes sweet and people have always enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction that comes with carrying out an execution. Unfortunately, Judge Lynch has not been practicing for a long time, so the eager population has no choice but to watch a movie where the hero takes justice into his own hands. Typical of this kind of production is Charles Bronson's Death Wish series. Taken is a straightforward action movie, where the main character gradually massacres three criminal gangs at a high pace to rescue his underage daughter from their clutches. Isn't that nice? Maybe it would be if the screenplay wasn't like a typical Seagal movie, which differs only by casting an A-list actor in the lead role. Unfortunately, the fact is that an actor of Liam Neeson's caliber is wasted on such a film because he has nothing to do there. He is not suited for the role and his character acting has almost no room to shine because the dialogues are shallow and the plot is silly. Tension in similar action movies builds up when the hero faces a charismatic and capable opponent, but here the villains are incredibly easy targets. And even the only one the angry daddy encounters at the very end is dispatched too quickly. Then there is also a message aimed at the American market, which is crucial for the film's commercial success. Loving American parents, where the world of values has not yet been corroded and decayed like in the desolate decadent Europe, are portrayed as the opposite of a cynical French meat trader, gangs of criminal Albanians, or a self-indulgent Arab magnate. Overall impression: 45%.

Takeshi Kitano once said that he was tired of being called the Japanese Tarantino and that he would instead make something in the style of Fellini and Buñuel. The result is a film inspired by Kitano's experiences in the film world, where the paths of a famous action film star who despises expressions of admiration but narcissistically enjoys them, and a mediocre loser who desperately auditions to get even a small role and survives day by day, intersect. Both men are indistinguishable from each other, but their positions and opportunities are vastly different. At the same time, real life intertwines with the artificial film world in the film in such a way that similar to Buñuel's films, the viewer does not know what is happening and whether it is someone's dream, hallucination, or reality. Kitano definitely did not make a stupid film; to be honest, his problem lies more in the fact that he is smarter than the majority of viewers. However, it is also an excessively manneristic, self-centered, and even showy film. It is not as sophisticated and does not have as high-quality a screenplay as David Lynch's best flights of fancy. In the last third, Takeshi Kitano falls into a stereotype and too often follows the motto of just filming everything if you don't know what to do next. It wouldn't be Kitano if there wasn't a decent piece of Tarantino in the form of wild shootouts and black humor based on violence. Kitano made this film for his own joy and for his fan club, so it is best enjoyed by those who are familiar with his work. As for myself, I can say that the film somewhat loses its momentum in Kitano's hands and is accommodating to its viewers as much as Jarmusch or Tarkovsky, which is to say, minimally. Overall impression: 60%. Otherwise, it is a film that will be most enjoyed by (pseudo) intellectuals who enjoy deciphering all the references and allusions in the film.

A certain portion of film fans perceive Vít Olmer as the Red Bull. I don't have a major problem with him, but I have to agree with those who point out that he was not among the great talents of his time. In his early directing career, nobody could predict that he would end up making commercially driven crap of the worst kind in the 90s, but even then it was evident that he didn't reach the same level of creativity as the famous directors of the Czech New Wave in the 60s, and that in his directorial attempts, he tried more to imitate rather than to search for his own style. His attempt to create a similar film with a similar filmmaking language as Forman or Chytilová is clearly weaker in his feature film debut. To be fair, the film's completion was also influenced by its time. In the 70s, independent filmmaking was dwindling and normalization was gradually taking over. So the film suffered from censorship as well. For example, the erotic scenes were not well-received. As a result, the film relies more on dialogue and resolves very little. Overall impression: 40%.

All the characteristics of Almodóvar's work are present here, but it is far from being a masterpiece. I gave him 45 minutes to captivate me into the world of his characters, but it probably wasn't worth it because as the minutes went by, I felt increasing indifference toward these characters and their problems. It's once again a matter of relationships, where emotions are sold like in a Latin American soap opera, and once again the female characters take the lead, which Almodóvar handles much better than the males, once again the motif of transvestism appears, etc. But if Almodóvar made movies at this level, he certainly wouldn't become the star of the festival audience. This film has good reviews primarily due to the director's reputation and his numerous fan base. Overall impression: 40%. Some movies bore you to the point where you rush to find out the point as soon as possible, and there are those where you are no longer interested in the outcome of the story. And I felt more of the latter with this film...

The inspiration from Italian neorealism with psychological detail typical of Karel Čapek's short stories is completely evident here. The mosaic of stories of the inhabitants of a tenement house on the outskirts of Prague is framed by the four seasons from spring to winter, and during this year, a series of significant changes occur in the lives of the characters being observed. Love, infidelity, break-ups, an unwanted child, death, and several other events. it is very well acted and directed, and in its unobtrusiveness, highly suggestive. Vladimír Ráž in the role of the bourgeois selfish mayor Martinec takes on one of his most negative roles, and Martin Růžek as an alcoholic is more than believable. Overall impression: 80%.

The sympathetic efforts to make the worst comic book adaptation missed the mark because I can't remember worse films of this kind than Vampirella and Barb Wire. However, coming in third place is not to be dismissed, and I will remember this movie whenever I need to encourage my gag reflex. Nevertheless, it proves that a comic book movie can be made very cheaply. Overall impression: 5%.

This film is significantly worse than The Black Barons with cruder humor and less likable characters, although Olmer did not forget his filmmaking craft in this case. It functions as a series of more or less amusing military life episodes rather than a film with a strong storyline. I give it three stars. Overall impression: 50%.

Fans of film escapades, intellectual experiments, and depressive decadence can rejoice, whereas I just shrug my shoulders and say: I mostly missed the point of Taxidermia. The film is divided into three parts, and only the middle part can stand on its own as a bizarre satire on the training of athletes who sacrifice everything for success. Although Pálfi made a real effort to provoke and extract the maximum from the aesthetics of disgust, I couldn't help but feel bored at certain stages, and as a whole, the film disappointed me in terms of content, as it's too self-indulgent and a manneristic affair. Overall impression: 40%.

The dollar may have had significantly more power in the mid-70s than it does today, but the fact remains that the movie only cost a mere 1.9 million, which is unbelievable. Nevertheless, money for the project was hard to come by, and it took a long 3 years for Scorsese and De Niro to make it happen. The screenwriter used a real-life successful assassination attempt on presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972. However, the film is not a crime story in the ordinary sense; rather, it is a psychological drama about a Vietnam War veteran who cannot readjust to society upon his return home. Gradually, he becomes the opposite of Jack, the founder of the Fight Club in Fincher's famous film. Jack embodied the dissatisfaction of the radical urban intellectual left and the idea of an anarchist rebellion against the system. On the other hand, Travis is closer to the positions of the radical right; he watches with concern and increasing contempt as life unfolds in a decadent metropolis full of loose sexual morality, crime, and existential insecurity. Both anti-heroes share not only chronic insomnia but also a protest against the world they want to rid of falsehoods. If Travis had carried out his plan to the end, he would have been seen as the archetype villain by the public. However, Scorsese allows his character to live on and even makes him famous in the eyes of the public. Ironically, he thus caricatures the double morality of bourgeois society. Travis' multiple murder of members of the urban gallery turns him not into a terrorist but into a courageous fighter against the underworld. Even members of the liberal urban elite are not spared. The activist Betsy represents the epitome of a snob, and presidential candidate Palantine is a typical example of a professional chatterbox who speaks in vague phrases. Scorsese benefited greatly from not taking a clear activist stance. During its creation, Taxi Driver sparked numerous controversies and passions. In a few years, it became a cult film, and rightly so, unlike many other works. It has definitely not aged; the character of Travis Bickle still unsettles viewers to this day. From my perspective, it is Robert De Niro's most significant role. A bonus for today's viewers is the fact that the supporting actors grew into first-class stars over the following decades. Overall impression: 95%.