Malarkey

One of a number of rough stories created by the war. One of those occasions, when a human behaves like an animal and causes so much evil that he cannot even admit it. A very rough film, where you have no idea what is going to happen in the next five minutes, so you have a lump in your throat for the whole two hours and just wait what else is going to happen to those nuns. This is also supported by the fact that the nuns rarely speak and the atmosphere of the film and the environment in which it takes place rather speak for them. The finale is very powerful and proves that humanity can win even in places where one would least expect it.

Aloys has a very sad life. But he was lucky that Tobias Nölle decided to film it. When it comes to the audio and video, the film is flawless. As usual, the first part of the film starts in a decently entertaining way, just so it can then turn in a more serious direction and try to convey a message. Unfortunately, the conclusion just faded into the void for me, so there is nothing left for me but to remember the first half of the film and rather not think about the second half. One of those films where the form outweighed the theme.

An exemplary festival movie where they almost do not talk at all. However, everyone still claims that Emília Vášáryová showed an absolutely amazing performance in it, and I do not blame her at all. I was just waiting the whole 106 minutes for when she finally reaches for a bottle of vodka and it just doesn’t happen.

The premise is not bad at all. Likewise, the cast must have been really strong for that time. However, what’s the use of it if not a single character gets enough space so I could enjoy it at least for a while. Plus, a solid start is then slowed down by the middle of the movie, which is absolutely drowsy, just so it could be eventually broken by the finale, which is the only action part of the movie and would fortunately wake up even a corpse. In the end, I evaluate it as average. I’ve seen better movies from that time.

This is a decent comedy, which however will not make you roll on the floor laughing. You won’t even let others know you’re having fun. But your soul will have fun, and even if you don’t make a sound, you will be quite satisfied with how entertaining this film is. However, the Hebrew language is worse, as its accent terribly distracts me during the most suspenseful scenes. Otherwise, it’s a decent comedy. A classic story, shot in a pleasant way, which does not offend.

Apparently when Helena Bonham Carter was young, she played in those classic British love stories that bet on a historic atmosphere and dry British romantic intrigues, which pretty much make you fall asleep.

Even though the name Hank Williams does not ring any bells, I have no problem with learning something new in a biopic. However, this film is not able to do that, and the only thing I learnt from it was the fact that Hank died so young because during the few years of his life he drank about five hectoliters of pure denatured alcohol… and it didn’t seem odd to him at all.

I can’t help myself but rate this film with five stars. After watching it, I came to realize what an incredibly powerful experience this film was. The Zookeeper’s Wife is not an easy movie at all, and I assume that not everyone is able to process it.Every time I am getting ready to watch a film telling a story from the Second World War, I am shocked by what the Nazis (and also the Russians) did not only on the battlefields, but also outside them. When people are dying, you still get used to it in the movies, because in similar movies that’s what happens daily. However, when animals bite the dust, it’s really tough and I have to admit that there was possibly no way how the creators could have shot the bombing of the Warsaw Zoo more precisely. I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw how Niki Caro made the exhibition center in Prague into a beautiful Warsaw Zoo. In some places, I was even pleased by the obviously Prague motifs. And when the Zoo was bombed by the Nazis, all that was left was a crater, which was really hard for the then owners to come to terms with.I have to admit that Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh played their parts perfectly and the number of Czech actors in this film also made me really happy. I am extremely glad that the Americans again (previously it was in the movie Anthropoid) offered Czech actors and actresses a few supporting roles. And they were a great fit. I utterly enjoyed their roles. Especially Arnošt Goldflam and Martin Hofmann excelled. So The Zookeeper's Wife is a huge surprise for me in all respects and I have a feeling that I will have to visit Warsaw as soon as possible. The creators shocked with a story that no one had filmed before, and they again took the war ordeals to a new level in films. For some people, that’s good, for others it’s bad. Anyway, it is good to know about stories like this and learn from them!

It is the usual romantic story combined with one absolutely exemplary case of infidelity. The beginning is typical. Two people meet and they immediately fall in love. Consequently, due to some coincidences and circumstances they will not meet again, and so in the following years they both create an economic marriage, where in both cases the other person is rich and thus sufficiently provides for them. And while she has a really shitty marriage, his is pretty much functioning and his wife is more than nice. But chance unites them again, and that is the origin of an affair, which is the exemplary reason for the break-up of a marriage. The only really interesting character in this film was Arvid’s wife, who had kindness in her eyes, but as soon as she found out that her husband was unfaithful, she began to have quite decent hysterical fits. The rest of the film is absolutely boring, and it made me pray for a quick end.

I can’t say how much I was looking forward to this film. For me, Agnieszka Holland is the guarantee of quality, so I knew that Spoor would not be bad at all. I was also looking forward to Miroslav Krobot, who, according to the poster, seemed to have one of the lead roles. However, during watching the film, I quickly realized that it is not the case. The lead role here is played by the landscape of Kłodzko and Agnieszka Mandat. Although she is not bad at all, the film in which she plays is hard to define. Actually, Agnieszka Holland herself confirmed after the screening that this is a mix of several genres. And that description really fits this movie. A little bit of everything, but together it is nothing. It’s not a crime movie, because they’re not investigating anything. It’s not a horror movie either, because there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s not completely psychological either, because you don’t really tap into the emotions of the characters except for the last fifteen minutes. So what is left is a lot of atmosphere, in this case it really overflows with it, and black humor, which is almost absent in the first half of the film and, in contrast, unusually common in the second half of the film. All in all, this is an interesting film, in which I enjoyed watching the shots of Kłodzko and wild animals, but it was difficult to focus on the story itself, as it flows somehow independently of its surroundings and in the last fifteen minutes it reveals itself with the time loops. By the way, allusions to the church are very good and, according to what Agnieszka said, very justified. The pastor was really sickening!