Pustina

Wow! just finished this show, and it is great! It is extremely dark and dreary, but spellbinding from start to finish. Real emotions from real characters, which can be hard to find in most shows. Good acting, good plot, and it really takes you to the place where it is set. It's as least as good as most American HBO dramas. This is the first HBO Europe series that I've watched and I'm hoping they are all like this. I've never written a review before, but this moved me to the point that I had to tell somebody.

At first I wasn't sure whether to continue watching; it took a couple of episodes to get into this one. The mood is somber; the Czech village is portrayed as lacking resources except for the possibility of local coal being mined by a new company trying to establish itself, with the inhabitants trying to make ends meet and favoring the new jobs and house sales resulting from offers by the coal company. Be forewarned that this won't be an uplifting series. If you like exposure to new cultures and lands, this will be of interest to you. The mystery is handled well and the acting, especially by the two main characters, is outstanding, I'm not familiar with the cast from other programming, but they all do a good job and the show is very well produced and directed. Background music is really appropriate and adds a nice element.

And what a surprise! I think HBO is just wonderful for distributing these types of 'real' works. The story is mesmerizing and sad.. cinematically - perfection. With such a dynamic story - I'm quite sure to hold my interest. More to say as I watch more... I'm only just finished with the 1st episode but felt compelled to review regardless. Give this 1 a try-you certainly won't be disappointed in the top-notch acting and story-telling.

Wasteland proves that even in Czech Republic (though under the HBO label) there can be made a miniseries of international quality. The rest of czech TV production doesn't hold a candle to it.

Visual style and atmosphere inspired by nordic crime shows, great acting, character development, dialogues, pacing, soundtrack, direction... Sure, it also has some drawbacks. For example some sub-plots were unnecessary, the detective storyline could be better and the miniseries sometimes feels a bit too self-aware of its own superiority.

However, nothing can change the fact that Wasteland is one of the best Czech works in a long, long time.

This astonishing 8-episode Czech miniserie, is one of the few discoveries, along with the Italian "Gomorra" and some Nordic jewel, which can be comfortably situated at the top of a genre usually dominated by the Anglo-Saxons. The reason is that it accomplish the two basic premises: 1. Brilliant Execution 2. It avoids the "underlining" (interpretive, musical, script etc.), that is, not to treat the spectator like an idiot.