Divoké vcely

The Czech Republic isn't exactly the first country I think of when talking about European cinema and to be honest, I had never seen a Czech movie before (well, that's not entirely true, I saw a part of one when I was visiting some friends in what was then still called Czechoslovakia). But I have an open mind towards "foreign" movies and decided to give this one a try.

This is a nice film, that doesn't really have a good conclusion. But don't let that be a reason not to watch this movie. The story is nice and gives you a good example of what life at the Czech countryside is like. The characters that are shown in this movie are believable and easy to feel attached to... Kaja is the main character. He lives with his religious father, his brother Petr and his grandmother. Kaja has a crush on Bozhka who has a child and who is attached to Ladya, a Michael Jackson imitator.

If this movie had had a real conclusion, this might have been even a lot better than it is now. But it still is a nice movie that is worth a watch. I give it a 6/10.

A classic Czech slice-of-village-life movie, with no less than a dozen well-delineated characters -- the innocent youth, the befuddled would-be philosopher, the village whore, the Michael Jackson wannabe, the salty grandma, the compulsive gambler, the young girl wise beyond her years, the eccentric videographer, etc.

It alternates between Rabelaisian bawdiness and wistful sympathy for people who, for the most part, are fated to narrowed prospects and uneventful lives. The ending and its message should be strong and clear for anyone with their wits about them -- life isn't simple, common sense prevails, and folks learn how to make the best of the hand that fate has dealt them. This warm and funny film about the human condition is a wonderful antidote for the formulaic crap that Hollywood persists in churning out year after year.

The main character is named Kaja, who lives with his father (who is obsessed with religion, in a humorously philosophical way) and grandmother. His (presumably older) brother is Petr, who is home after dropping out of college. Kaja has a crush on Bozhka, who has a child and is attached to Ladya, who in turn does a killer Michael Jackson imitation, which reminds me to mention that the film has a good soundtrack.

The first time director, Bohdan Slama, was at the San Francisco International Film Festival screening on 4/24/2002 to answer questions. He indicated that many of the actors had not acted previously, and that the budget was *much* less than $1 million. He said that yes, they did drink extensively during the shooting, and that one of the messages of the film is the danger of losing your traditions and roots. The title is apparently related to love and to the need bees have to live together in hives. I'm not familiar with other Czech films, but apparently there are many references here to many other Czech films, including "The Fireman's Ball."

This is a sweet film that I was glad to have seen, but be warned that it doesn't really have much of a conclusion. The earlier showing at the festival was the North American premiere.