User Reviews

This film creatively and completely drives home the fears of processing the grave expanse of a long life and finding freedom at its end. Using bits of Czechoslovakian history, like the surrealist author Viteszlav Nezval, the cultural standards and beliefs surrounding burial, and mention of the old communist regime, this rich conceptual adventure overflows with passion and color. The emotional melodies bounce softly on vulnerable heart sores and inspire adventure and enjoyment of life even for those most twisted into banality.

The elements of the film that work best to provide originality follow the same provokingly surrealist themes of Nezval, whose book "Prague Walkers" was read by a supporting character. Dogs, cats, tigers, birds, and bunnies find their way into the whimsical yet troubled lives of the characters, augmenting their humanity and serving as reflections and answers to the characters they encounter. It sounds like an animated fairy tale from this description, but I mean to express the indispensable role the symbolism these animals had in the film. Another motif of undeniable importance was the explicitly imbalanced climate shared between men and women in their relationships. The film yearns for a cohesive explanation of the control that women enforce over their partners, and though it seems pressingly derogatory the writing still achieves an understanding of each character and their motives. I believe the film excellently captured the lives, desires, and fears of each person, while also conveying an assertion about assumed gender roles. The tiger in tiger theory represents male solidarity and steady power. It is a beautiful translation of untapped perfection in a soul trapped in societal nonsense. Both the men and the women are freed by their realizations after allowing fear to create their own prison and castrate their vitality.

I genuinely and greatly enjoyed this adventure. Great shots of personal effects built humanity and accessibility, and the lightly comedic tone is encapsulating and critically nonchalant. I fell in love with the characters and their journeys, and felt a connection to the story. Like a "real cowboy," the charming, yielding patriarch chased his happiness like the great adventurers that had gone before, even knowing that his end might be the same as theirs: caught and executed for their disobedience. Independence and happiness lie on the screen as questions in this film, cinematically providing life altering experiences. This weight this story carries is humbling.

Jan, a wealthy veterinarian in his sixties, has had his everyday life tightly organized and controlled by his wife Olga. That seems to be in her genes; Olga's mother and her late husband were in the same situation, and so are Olga's daughter Olinka and her husband Erik. The dichotomy freedom/security is unsubtly stressed by forcing us to watch the castration of a cat in the first scene.

Jan decides to strike for freedom. His plan: to simulate the onset of Alzheimer, so that Olga will be forced to place him in an institution from which he can escape (!). Problem: his Alzheimer number would not fool a child, much less his doctor, and should Olga buy Jan's act her obvious reaction would be to hire a caretaker for Jan rather than interning him. Jan is supported in his quest for freedom by his son Pepík and by Erik, who are in on the plot.

The basic premise seems to be: Olga is impervious to reason, a control freak and any attempt to argue with her is useless. The same applies to Olinka; women in this movie are unthinking petty tyrants (except for Alena, Pepík's wife, but she has special reasons) and all men are sincere, tolerant and wise especially Jan, played by Jirí Bartoska, who delivers his lines with irritating assurance; he has no doubts about anything. There are some positives (good acting, good cinematography) but they are not enough to rescue this movie. To find a more negative picture of women one would have to rewind back to Laurel & Hardy and their ferocious screen wives, but at least they were funny. A miss.