Mamon

When I saw Mammon for the first time, I was quite shocked. I couldn’t understand how somebody managed to shoot such a good political thriller in the form of a mini-series in the Czech Republic. I have to say that I was really surprised and I really liked the show. But after about four episodes, I began noticing that the entire plot was related to certain situations that were quite shocking and that the rest somehow flowed at its own pace. I was still enjoying it, mainly thanks to the acting performances, but I wasn’t as excited as I’d been at the beginning anymore. And all this was crowned when I found out that this was a remake of a Norwegian show, which I in no case hold against the authors obviously. The story really fits into the Czech context. The only problem was that it was no longer original. But that is strongly made up for by the fact that even such a screenplay can be filmed in our country. It’s high quality, packed with action and it will really keep your attention. And there were some who said that it couldn’t be done… (20.12.2015)

I won't hold back. I considered the Norwegian original to be a slap in the face for fans of Nordic detective stories. It became proof to me that Scandinavians, in their desire to find new ideas and please international audiences, create convoluted, unrealistic plots and sink into a mysterious world that loses touch with reality. They wander off track, and I only managed to finish the first series of Norwegian Mammon with great effort. I didn't expect anything from the Czech version, and I was more interested to see if such poorly handled material could be further ruined by traditionally poor Czech production. Fortunately, the ambitious HBO stood behind the project, and I consider the result to be a kind of small miracle. By setting the story in the Czech reality of wild capitalism in the 90s, the forced elements became more acceptable. The hiring of Vladimír Michálek, who has an eye for location selection and a refined visual style, was a win. He significantly downplayed the mystery storyline - again to the benefit of the project. If something does bring down the result, it is precisely the legacy of the Norwegian original. One cannot overlook the absurd play on coincidences, where the protagonist gradually becomes a witness to the suicides of three important managers. The performance of Tereza Hofová, who overacts her role as a prosecutor, can also be criticized. Nevertheless, the positives significantly outweigh the negatives. Even the action scene doesn't look like an attempt at parodying Western productions. Objectively speaking, it's more like a three-star rating, but considering the long-term state of Czech productions, it is undeniably a success. For the set design and effort by Matěj Hádek, I give it an overall impression of 70%. (16.05.2019)

I have to admit I liked the series a lot as a whole. However, the ending was almost a complete disaster. Apart from the last episode which had many shortcomings, I was otherwise a very satisfied viewer. I was finally treated to a decent Czech series. I was surprised that not even the action scenes seemed silly, which is normally the case in Czech production. They were quite convincing. I did enjoy Mamon, and if the creators had done a better job of the ending, I might have given an even higher rating. (28.04.2018)