gudaulin

The somewhat confusing title suggests a story of some adventurous tale from the colonial era or the Wild West conquest. In reality, it is an intimate psychological drama of siblings dealing with a serious illness and later with the death of their father, as well as with a midlife crisis, which includes not only difficulties in emotional relationships but also in professional direction. If you do not have the courage to change your lifestyle (which decreases as the years pass), you can easily turn great emotions into small ones and sacrifice the idea of your own family for the altar of comfortable survival. The film can rely on two top-notch character actors who give their maximum performance, and on sensitive direction with a sense of detail and intimate expression of emotions. The film somehow feels like it was directed by a woman. Overall impression: 85%.

It should be noted that the plot is a bit far-fetched, but within the framework of an adventure war comedy that doesn't pretend to be anything more than a pleasant and purely relaxing film, it easily gets lost, especially when the film is excellently cast and well-executed. The presence of Jean-Paul Belmondo in the lead role is very helpful, as he portrays a traditionally charismatic and likable hero who has an ambiguous position between a courageous soldier, an occasional thief, a cynical seducer, and a friend. He is supported by a group of talented actors led by Jacques Villeret, and it is generally a film where even small roles are played by great actors. Clever dialogues and a series of unexpected twists, together with an interesting point, make the film a timeless spectacle. It may not be a perfect 5 stars, but compared to how today's filmmakers imagine comedy, I eventually lean toward giving it the fifth star. Overall impression: 90%.

Classic westerns experienced their golden age in the 1940s and 1950s and this film can be considered one of their peaks. It contains all the necessary genre props and elements, and it differs from its genre predecessors with technical improvements - sound, color, and format, as well as a strong cast and meticulous treatment. A treat for genre enthusiasts. The plot is not original, as it is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. As a form, the classic western feels a bit outdated - it never had much in common with the real history of the settlement of the American continent, and I also dislike the stereotypical characters of the usual western scheme. But why not admire all those naive western elements for a moment, such as the lightning-fast drawing of guns, rapid shooting without reloading, or the endless supply of dispatched outlaws from a supposedly forty-member gang, if it is presented in such a finely crafted form? The quality of the music will also leave a lasting impression. Overall impression: 75%.

Some topics are so serious that they should still work even with average processing. Moreover, having Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, and several other well-known and quality actors at your disposal and not making a strong film already seems like a big failure. Nevertheless, I can't think of a film set in a concentration camp that would feel so barren to me. Brynych wasn't a directing ace, but his film Transport from Paradise, even though it didn't rely on a strong dramatic plot and was modest in terms of production, managed to capture the everyday life of the camp and the departure of the transport in an impressive documentary-like way that clearly surpasses The Grey Zone. In Nelson's film, I get the impression that there was a misunderstanding of the rules of the world behind barbed wire. The dialogue between the camp commander and the prisoner who opposes him is like something from another planet. Comparing the motif of survival in the gas chamber from the chillingly impressive Son of Saul with a similar scene in The Grey Zone feels almost blasphemous. The Grey Zone fails to sell the film characters and its storytelling is clumsy and quickly forgettable. Overall impression: 45%.

It's been about two years since a cycle of French films from the 1930s was broadcast on TV, celebrated classics that every film critic and art critic raved about. They seemed affected by time and to me, it's just film history that mostly passes me by. This film is a different story. I would say it is timeless and emotionally it managed to bring me exactly what Renoir intended. He had no intention of making an adventurous film about escape. This is a political film, where through the model of a few prisoners and their antagonist in the form of a typical Prussian aristocrat with elitist thoughts, he wanted to demonstrate and support the idea of republicanism, equality, and resistance against war, as well as resistance against the rapidly spreading antisemitism at the time. It is not a coincidence that he chose for his protagonists a plebeian officer played by Jean Gabin, a Jewish soldier, moreover, a wealthy one, who directly responded to theories about a Jewish elite pulling the strings, and a selfless officer from higher social circles who understands that the era of blue blood has long passed. Considering the time of its creation, it is truly a high-quality film, where the acting performances serve the social message. Overall impression: 90%.

My adolescence was co-shaped by French war comedies. I really liked those films and their humor used to resonate perfectly with me. However, quite a few years have passed since then and I have moved on and so has cinema, after all. Don't Look Now: We're Being Shot At may be a showcase of a certain type of popular situational comedy, but it is certainly not the best French comedy. In this case, not even a bit of nostalgia works for me, so from my current perspective, I'm only giving it three stars. Overall impression: 65%.

There are a lot of motifs and characters in the movie that perfectly fit the adjective "weird." However, the problem lies in the fact that it is either too weird or not weird enough. When after 40 minutes you have no idea what genre the movie is in or what it is about, then it is either a brilliant film, a mystification, or an unsuccessful matter. I ruled out the possibility of it being a brilliant film, so it is probably a joke at the expense of the viewers, or - more likely - an incompletely mastered intellectual game. The worst part is that the film is not provocative and attractive enough. In the end, I did not feel a sense of disappointment, as the actors acted very well and there were several enjoyable small tricks in the script, but it did not evoke any deeper feelings or emotions in me, and in a few days I won't even remember it. Overall impression: 45%. Fans of popcorn flicks heads up, this is definitely a niche affair...

Even the biggest optimists understandably cannot expect a grand spectacle like Titanic from a European television movie, but I was somewhat disappointed in the end. The problem with this film is not that it is cheap, but that it looks cheap. The Gustloff sank for approximately 50 minutes and if the creators were able to present those 50 minutes in a reasonably appropriate way, my impression would definitely be better. However, because their budget did not allow them to, or rather, they were unable to film the attack on the ship and its destruction as their finances allowed, the overall length of the film is dragged out because, with such a subject, the viewer simply expects the drama of a sinking ship. Instead, the film plays out several individual stories of passengers on the ship, but the individual characters are not as attractive and the actors are not charismatic enough to truly captivate the audience. Additionally, the screenwriter did not want to admit that the reason for the ship's destruction was the fact that by the end of January 1945, the Germans no longer controlled the Baltic Sea, so an unlikely story of a Soviet spy or rather, a German traitor infiltrating the crew was created. The reality was that the captain of the Soviet submarine had his own personal issues due to his repeated drunkenness and desperately needed success, so he took a risk and sank the first ship that crossed his path... Overall, The Crimson Ocean is an average war film that undoubtedly had greater ambitions and could have been filmed better. Overall impression: 50%.

Professionally filmed and decently edited documentary about a noble family that perhaps most significantly influenced the history of Central Europe. Its only disadvantage is its relative shallowness, meaning that the documentary will not enrich avid history enthusiasts, as it is specifically geared towards providing popular educational content for a wider audience unaffected by intensive studying of historical events. The series is approached in a nostalgically positive sense, as a narrative about the fates of monarchs and their empires. Pleasant commentary by Jan Kačer. Overall impression: 80%.

If one side of war is represented by the front line with whizzing bullets and artillery fire, then the film actually shows us only the other side. In the first shots, American infantry cautiously advances into the heart of a city, but we are spared street fighting, and the war, as portrayed by American commanders who witness the opportunism and remarkable pragmatism of the local elite, takes on an almost operatic dimension. However, step by step, it becomes apparent that even a war without bombings and bloody massacres exacts its toll. From the highest toll in the case of a minefield to forced child prostitution - it is indeed better to sell one's child's body than to let them die of hunger. Cavani manages to show the absurdity of wartime conditions in a sometimes outright comical manner, reminding me in several moments (such as the theft of the tank and trading with well-fed German prisoners of war) of the novel "How I Won the War." Captain Malaparte is an informed narrator of the story and he has the ideal position from the viewer's perspective. He can interact with all layers of Italian society, from the upper ten thousand to the lost existences on the outskirts of the city. For Mastroianni, the role of an Italian officer with frontline experience was an interesting deviation from the template of intellectual and melancholic characters in Bolognini's films. Overall impression: 90%.