Der Garten

Truly satisfying slovak art film.

I am from Slovakia and I watched this film with my dad, who went to the cinema for this film when it was released. Now, he rewatched it with me after 30 years and he could not stop saying how it reminds him of his childhood times in the village called "Pondelok" to which he casually refers to as a true and only home. He also said how authentic it is in terms of screenplay with all the problematic that is discussed. He said that the philosophy insertion(references to Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Ludwig Wittgenstein) was spot on as young students(just as my dad back then) all over Slovakia were contemplating about everything in global level after Velvet Revolution. But he also stressed that it was genuine with such details as hair shearer, cars and interior and exterior of the shack in general.

For me, as someone who loves philosophy and films, this film was really positive surprise. Cinematography and love/countryside plot were original, satisfying, deep and artistic, it was an allegory. Film was enriched by comical passages through the character of Jacob's father played by wonderful Marián Labuda(his son made cameo in this pic as the barman as well). Presenting each chapter in historical slovak vernacular felt like typical works of Hviezdoslav or Kukucin from slovak realism in literature, and I found it kind. Mirror-rotated writings were so creative too. Caterpillar reflection was amazing. I didn't completely get the end, with the levitation stuff, felt magical though. But I am gonna probably rewatch it some time later for sure and have some conversation about it with my dad at the same time.

I didn't save on words in this review, but I needed this so bad to feel comfortable inside, if you know what I mean.

I am not affraid to put this movie into comparison to some slovak classics like "The shop on main street" or "Perinbaba", because this film is important as it speaks its own context based on own period of time in Slovakia. This should be refered to as our(the Slovaks) cinematographic legacy.

Dakujem za krasny film.

Every time I see this movie, my love for it grows. It is one of my treasures on VCR. It confronts you with life and living life, but not in a cynic way, which is often the case in film and literature. It shows the beauty and mystique of this world without being pretentious. The movie contains a great sense of humor, because humans are strange creatures with funny methods of approaching life and how they try to make sense of it. You have to love them for it, in spite or because of the mistakes they make.

A film about origins and ordinary mysteries. About the nuances of childhood. About freedom. A school teacher and his father. A young woman. A girl. And a garden. A poem about roots and happiness. It is difficult to describe this movie. The story of Jakub is only self definition. Few parts, some characters as steps to real image of reality, trees and ants, magic and exile, knowledge and answers. Small drops of a spring rain. And the fly. It is a form of soul song. And shadow of lost ages. A fairy tall with taste of apples and summer vacation. Nothing complicated. Maybe, a Proust madlene. That movie type about nothing and all. A travel to memories and slice of silence. And nostalgics bones of a far world.

If you think movie in which nothing really happens must be boring... forget it. It's non-action and calm, but far from ,,artistic" and ,,intelligents-only" ones. It's hard to say what is it about (i have heard something about ,,seeking yourself" :-), because you simply sit and watch and after the movie you find yourself smiling to people around you - without necessarily for thinking about ,,what it meant and what it means for me".

A beautiful movie, with a dreamlike feel to it. The main character is Jakub who has fallen out with his father and has moved into a ramshackle house in the countryside. There is an overgrown garden and orchard.It is organised in chapters like a book, as Jakub encounters various odd visitors to the house and garden. Don't expect much of a message or action, just sit back and enjoy.