I recently saw this at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. With several films yet for me to see at this years festival among those I have seen so far this will be one of my festival favorites. This is set in the late 1990's in the Czech Republic and is the story of an eccentric and mildly retarded man named Vaclav (Ivan Trojan) with attention disorder and several other emotional problems who is nicknamed "Inajiffy" by the villagers because it is is favorite saying. He lives with his widowed mother (Emilia Vasaryova) and is the constant cause of trouble for her and his brother Frantisek (Jan Budar). His brother wants him committed to an institution as does many of the villagers. One villager who is kind to Vaclav and is Lida (Sona Norisova) who Vaclav has a crush on. This is a complex story with a lot going on and a lot to think about with a great cast and screenplay.Wrtiter/director Jiri Vejdelek has done a superb job here and was at my screening for an audience Q&A along with actor Jan Budar who doubled as a translator for Vejdelek who doesn't speak English. Beautifully photographed by Jakob Simunek and based on a true story covering the Czech political atmosphere of the late 1970's and late 1990's. Trojan is fabulous as Vaclav in this comedy-drama and has the facial and body language expressions that remind me of Chico or Harpo Marx. A well-crafted film that expertly weaves drama with comedic moments. I would give this a 9.0 and recommend it.
2 Reviews
Superb
benjohn22 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Why makes this film brilliant? I loved the story and the way it's told.
The history and current situation of the characters is revealed almost as an aside to the events on screen. This is a technique usually used to befuddle you in a who- dun-it, but it's used here to sensitively unfold a terrifically sad history weighing down unbearably on the present, while you're growing to understand Václav and his village from the silly situations he gets himself in to. This lets it be funny and fascinating.
Václav is a simpleton and the daft things he does are the skeleton of the film that everything hangs off. It would be easy for him to become a clown and the comedy to make situations unbelievable, but this doesn't happen. He and the other cast feel very real and believable, and their anger, acceptance, or delight at his idiocy fits with their relationship with him and reveals more about them.
This is exactly the kind of film I'd like to see a lot more of! It's wonderful telling of a wonderful story. I've given this 10 out of 10 as I see no reason not to.
PS – The main write up here is a little misleading. ***Very Slight Spoiler*** The synopsis suggests that the last few minutes of the film, which are a cathartic and satisfying resolution, make up a much larger portion of the screen time than they do.
The history and current situation of the characters is revealed almost as an aside to the events on screen. This is a technique usually used to befuddle you in a who- dun-it, but it's used here to sensitively unfold a terrifically sad history weighing down unbearably on the present, while you're growing to understand Václav and his village from the silly situations he gets himself in to. This lets it be funny and fascinating.
Václav is a simpleton and the daft things he does are the skeleton of the film that everything hangs off. It would be easy for him to become a clown and the comedy to make situations unbelievable, but this doesn't happen. He and the other cast feel very real and believable, and their anger, acceptance, or delight at his idiocy fits with their relationship with him and reveals more about them.
This is exactly the kind of film I'd like to see a lot more of! It's wonderful telling of a wonderful story. I've given this 10 out of 10 as I see no reason not to.
PS – The main write up here is a little misleading. ***Very Slight Spoiler*** The synopsis suggests that the last few minutes of the film, which are a cathartic and satisfying resolution, make up a much larger portion of the screen time than they do.
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