D-Slam

This is one of the two Polish movies I've ever seen (the other one was incidentally Kilerów Dwóch, also by Juliusz Machulski), and I wish I could see it subtitled. (The Czech version contains an unbelievable goof where the sound is like ten seconds behind the picture in one scene.) What can I say? The film relies largely on funny situations and witty one-liners, but as a whole it is a blatant and witty satire on the Communist regime, and potentially on any other regime, but above all, is a good comedy. I have it under good authority that there is no-one in Poland who hasn't seen Seksmisja. :)

One morning, Jan Bures (or is it Karel Bures? I forgot which is which :) discovers that his twin brother Karel (Jan?) has choked to death on a bread roll. However, Jan knows what to do - Karel was a pilot for Universum, a time travel agency. So he dresses up as his brother and goes to his brother's job. He soon discovers that his brother was part of a Nazi ploy to hijack a time travel rocket, go to 1944 (when Germany is in trouble) and give Adolf Hitler an A-bomb. Although he can do little to prevent this, the ploy fails - firstly, the hijackers are double-booked with two American tourists, and secondly, they land in 1941 - when German soldiers are threatening to conquer Moscow. When they return, they return before they actually took off (this is Jan's attempt to save his brother by preventing him from suffocating). And things go downhill from there...

Firstly, this is a very original take on the topic of time travel. Secondly, Petr Kostka does a great job in this double-role (which is in fact more of a single role after all). The effects and styling appear naive now, but they're good for their time and place. (The Universum scenes were mostly filmed in the then-new Prague subway.) Finally, the writers and director must be commended for not getting lost in the screenplay and for not letting us get lost or bored - there's always something going on and if you're willing to believe that time travel was possible in the 1970s as demonstrated in the film, there are few (if any) plot holes or inconsistencies. Music doesn't play much of a role here.

The near-obligatory compromises to Communism (this was the 1970s, y'know) are present, but in a way that just makes it even more entertaining - the aforementioned American tourists react to the sight of Hitler in the flesh by demanding to take photographs with him, much to the Führer's frustration (the guy who played him was great too). Can't really think of any other examples right now.

If you like this film, an obvious recommendation would be Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové (I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen), but I found Zítra vstanu a oparím se cajem more entertaining.

I first saw this film back in 1994 when I was ten years old, and I'd completely forgotten it since then. However, when I came across it on TV yesterday, I recognised it after the first tones of the music. So, that's the first point - the music is very good. That is, the parts that aren't played on a synthesiser are very good. (TV budget, you know...)

Now to the more important stuff. The acting is in no way amazing - after all, there isn't much to amaze with. Saturnin (Oldøich Vízner) and Aunt Kateøina (Jana Synková) are well-acted, but the others deliver worse performances. Ondøej Havelka is a good swing musician, but not an actor.

That being said, the film doesn't fail to deliver the humour and athmosphere the book did - only in smaller doses. The editing is abrupt in places (the film was made by cutting down a previously filmed TV series) and some scenes from the book have been omitted or altered (for example, IIRC, Jiøí's heroic jump into the lake is originally in vain, because Doctor Vlach has another key - see the film if you wonder what I'm talking about).

All in all, if you decide to watch this movie, you're in for some good gentle humour; but if you ever happen to come across the book ("Saturnin" by Zdenek Jirotka), grab it and don't let go.