...after having read some positive reviews. I watched this movie and was deeply disappointed, as it totally lacks the kind of humor, which makes better (and older) czech comedies so great.
The idea of a group of totally different people, e.g. two old ladies, a famous singer, a redneck family or a gay couple travelling to the same holiday ressort isn't new at all, but still offers numerous opportunities to make a good or -at least- a funny film. The makers of "Ucastnici" didn't take them, but tried to make some sort of an "American Pie"-clone, with a lot of unnecessary sex (the eleven-yr. old son of the redneck is afraid of becoming gay, so one of the female members of the group lets him touch her breasts, in order to convince him that he is "straight".) and drugs (one of the gays brought some weed, everybody's stoned and one of the older guys refers to the "60's" as if there never was a soviet invasion in Czechoslovakia in '68 but just some big Hippie-happening).
To make a long story short, the times of high-quality czech cinema seem to over, due to lack of money but mainly due to the lack of interest. Why should an audience, that for nearly twenty years lives in a post-communist society, still stick to it's old values like excellent actors, subtle humor and a deep humanity, when it's so much easier to copy the most stupid of US and German "comedies"? I'm sad.
The idea of a group of totally different people, e.g. two old ladies, a famous singer, a redneck family or a gay couple travelling to the same holiday ressort isn't new at all, but still offers numerous opportunities to make a good or -at least- a funny film. The makers of "Ucastnici" didn't take them, but tried to make some sort of an "American Pie"-clone, with a lot of unnecessary sex (the eleven-yr. old son of the redneck is afraid of becoming gay, so one of the female members of the group lets him touch her breasts, in order to convince him that he is "straight".) and drugs (one of the gays brought some weed, everybody's stoned and one of the older guys refers to the "60's" as if there never was a soviet invasion in Czechoslovakia in '68 but just some big Hippie-happening).
To make a long story short, the times of high-quality czech cinema seem to over, due to lack of money but mainly due to the lack of interest. Why should an audience, that for nearly twenty years lives in a post-communist society, still stick to it's old values like excellent actors, subtle humor and a deep humanity, when it's so much easier to copy the most stupid of US and German "comedies"? I'm sad.
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