Pelísky

i saw pelisky in 2000 at the international film festival in aukland, new zealand. almost 5 years later, having only seen the film that one time, i cannot forget how much i loved it. wonderfully funny and tragic, extremely well-acted, by far the best foreign language film in the festival. it was the the highest grossing czech film of the year at the czech box office, third only to titanic and kolya. unfortunately, i'm not sure if it made it into any American theatres and i have not been able to locate a copy since i returned home. if at all possible you get your hands on a copy of pelisky, i promise you will adore this film.

As a person who's been in Czech Republic and knows many Czechs, I say this movie reflects a lot from the genuine Czech lifestyle.

The framing when switching from one family to another is splendid, and the characters are absolutely brilliant. An average person could say Jindra's father is a little bit exaggerated, but I found my own father in him so I can relate. Czech family structure and its orientation with the iron curtain culture is elegantly touched. Also, the sad fact that some people unfortunately have to leave their homes and move abroad is another major issue of this movie. I believe anyone from a country that has a lot of negative immigration will feel something different watching it.

Another success of the director is that, the scenes spend a lot of time with the Christmas time. But it never gets boring. What I'm looking for in a movie is depth, (which is why I don't really fancy most American movies) and it's present in this one. Social issues, relationships, politics, traditions, everything! In addition to all this, Kristyna Novakova has an outstanding performance, and to me she's a starlet with a bright future.

Czech this movie out! You won't be disappointed...

A beautifully understated story of ordinary people living their everyday lives through the trying times of Christmas '67 and the Prague Spring during the run up to the Soviet invasion. While the setting has be caught with stark and depressing realism, the film is perfectly balanced with a gently comic and bittersweet observation of the families and their relationships as they struggle through events from the mundane to the tragic. Personal loss, both of freedom and of loved ones, and the way life still manages to go on has been captured with deceptive ease and without resorting to the usual cliches and predictable attempts at closure that so often seem to pollute western cinema of this type.

I really enjoyed watching this movie. I found this gem by accident and I'm surprised that it hasn't found it's way to a major audience here in Germany although quite a few Czech movies run on public television. The movie is funny and witty but at times also sad and deadly serious. Like many other Czech movies the story is made up of small parts that fit together as a whole picture. There's the stubborn army officer a convinced communist and his family, there's the war hero that strongly opposes the communist regime a choleric and his family and the single teacher and her son who try to find a new man for the family and there are the teenagers of those families that don't really care about politics or what their parents think is important. Those are the main characters that form a whole picture of life in Czechoslovakia during the Prague spring in 1968. The stories switch at easy from funny to hilarious to sad and back. I recommend this movie to everyone to watch. It is certainly worth the time. Other reviews state that you have to be Czech to fully understand everything. Well, I could relate to the characters as well though I might have missed a cultural reference or two.

Cosy Dens (1999) is the ironic name given to the film that was called Pelísky in Czech. The movie was directed by Jan Hrebejk.

Two families are celebrating Christmas in the same apartment house during the Prague Spring. The father of one family is patriotic and anti-Russian. The father of the other is an army officer, and pro-Russian. The basic plot revolves around the relationships between these families. Clearly, the families symbolize two aspects of Czech society in 1968--some refused to accept the Soviet occupation, and denounced it when they could. Others turned the occupation to their advantage.

The movie has several plot threads. The two fathers argue constantly. The young son of one family loves the daughter of the other. (It's not Romeo and Juliet--his love is unrequited.) An aunt hopes to find a husband, but her son and her bad luck get in the way.

It's interesting that even the army officer's family celebrate with a traditional Christmas. It's very interesting--at least to a non-Czech--that the families keep a live carp in the bathtub, which is apparently a traditional aspect of the Czech Christmas.

The film is not just a comedy. It is a symbolic representation of the tensions of the Czech people, who must adapt to the fact that Russia controls their destiny. They don't know--but we know--that the Prague Spring will come to an end not through liberation, but through the roar of the Warsaw Pact tanks rolling through Prague.

There's a long shot of birds in a cage near the end. The presenter of the film made the symbolism clear. The birds have enough food and water to survive, but the central fact of their existence--like that of the Czechs--is that they are not free.

Seen as part of the outstanding Alan Lutkus International Film Series at SUNY Geneseo. The film is on DVD, and was projected onto the large screen. It will work on the small screen as well.