Ignor
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Ignor's rating
Do you like Wodehouse's Jeeves? Yes? Then this film will match your preferences.
In essence, Saturnin is Jeeves-type butler - but in one way more ingenious, in another one more brutal. He simply likes to be a perfect butler - like Jeeves - but he also does not forget to entertain himself and acts according to his own hierarchy of values and logic. And, aside liking his job, he loves the other people to face strange, bizarre, or just unusual situations. But all his actions are carried in the top class butler manners and all his efforts serve interests of his employer. Saturnin's dream order is - to get unusual orders.
The film builds on an atmosphere of the thirties of the past century; the pre-war prosperity and high-middle class environment seems essential for the film to work well. Also, knowledge of the pre-war manners in Europe helps to really enjoy some of the wits.
This film would deserve higher marks by two points but the production was low-cost and you can notice it. The overlap with the TV series helps neither. It is a pity. Also, some of the well-know novel scenes could be transposed more elegantly.
To sum up - you might not like the movie as much as the book, which is, according to me, superior, but it definitely worths seeing (especially when you feel you need gentle humor to cheer yourself up).
In essence, Saturnin is Jeeves-type butler - but in one way more ingenious, in another one more brutal. He simply likes to be a perfect butler - like Jeeves - but he also does not forget to entertain himself and acts according to his own hierarchy of values and logic. And, aside liking his job, he loves the other people to face strange, bizarre, or just unusual situations. But all his actions are carried in the top class butler manners and all his efforts serve interests of his employer. Saturnin's dream order is - to get unusual orders.
The film builds on an atmosphere of the thirties of the past century; the pre-war prosperity and high-middle class environment seems essential for the film to work well. Also, knowledge of the pre-war manners in Europe helps to really enjoy some of the wits.
This film would deserve higher marks by two points but the production was low-cost and you can notice it. The overlap with the TV series helps neither. It is a pity. Also, some of the well-know novel scenes could be transposed more elegantly.
To sum up - you might not like the movie as much as the book, which is, according to me, superior, but it definitely worths seeing (especially when you feel you need gentle humor to cheer yourself up).
The long-awaited film (there were 10 years of legal disputes who has the filming rights) arrived. First of all, I feel the movie will not be as popular as "Postriziny" (AKA Short Cut) as Menzel decided to show also the bad parts on the Czech(oslovak)s. Yet it might be more appealing to non-European viewers. The rating will also depend on whether the viewers have red the Hrabal's novel or not and whether they were (dis)satisfied with the novel-movie link made.
The choice of the characters is really good (note some similarity in appearance of the actresses; the resemblance of actresses really documents Menzel's poetics) and the movie starts quite well. However, the first half is much better than the second one. In about two-thirds the director should move towards the message of the movie yet this part and the message delivery seems to be the most problematic. Sharp cut (or Short Cut?) could help to eliminate several slightly lengthy passages at this stage. The shift of the character is believable yet the movie can be misguiding in the CAUSE of the character shift (compared with the novel).
The choice of the characters is really good (note some similarity in appearance of the actresses; the resemblance of actresses really documents Menzel's poetics) and the movie starts quite well. However, the first half is much better than the second one. In about two-thirds the director should move towards the message of the movie yet this part and the message delivery seems to be the most problematic. Sharp cut (or Short Cut?) could help to eliminate several slightly lengthy passages at this stage. The shift of the character is believable yet the movie can be misguiding in the CAUSE of the character shift (compared with the novel).
This was my greatest disappointment in the last year. The movie is completely empty.
Looking for action? Sorry, the old lady next door would be able to handle situations better than trained agents. Psycholgy of the main hero? Even a runway for the new Airbus is curved compared to the movie. I do not mention the historical (im)precision; I believe the movie was not made to be a document. In addition, it was not interesting visually, Paris did not look like Paris (do not get mistaken by the Eiffel tower shot), London is characterised by heavy rain....
And the last observation, the movie could be one hour longer or shorter - no difference.
Looking for action? Sorry, the old lady next door would be able to handle situations better than trained agents. Psycholgy of the main hero? Even a runway for the new Airbus is curved compared to the movie. I do not mention the historical (im)precision; I believe the movie was not made to be a document. In addition, it was not interesting visually, Paris did not look like Paris (do not get mistaken by the Eiffel tower shot), London is characterised by heavy rain....
And the last observation, the movie could be one hour longer or shorter - no difference.