The Petroleum Lamps

The most significant film by Juraj Herz in my eyes will always be The Cremator, but The Petroleum Lamps is a serious contender for second place in the rankings. The film has high-quality and emotionally powerful literary source material, a provocative moralistic subject, two top actors in the leading roles, a careful selection of costumes, props, and interiors, and above all young Juraj Herz from a time when he was bursting with ideas and had an exceptional sense for creating atmosphere - all of this makes The Petroleum Lamps one of the best psychological dramas that have been created in Czechoslovakia. The demonic Petr Čepek, who always had an exceptional gift for portraying the dark sides of human nature, demonstrates the disintegration of the personality of a person afflicted with a serious illness and as always, is perfect and unpleasantly convincing. However, more interesting is Iva Janžurová, considered by film fans to be a typical comedian. She shows that her acting range is much wider and that she is capable of playing practically anything. The Petroleum Lamps works on two levels. Firstly, as a critique of a small-minded environment full of prejudice, where the film's protagonist is too free-thinking and emancipated, and thus her surroundings respond to her in their own way. Secondly, it is a film about the unfulfilled life of a childless woman who spends the best years of her life caring for a bitter human wreck. I don't usually mention it, but in this case, I will make an exception and emphasize the film's set design, which is done in the Art Nouveau style. This is something that is rarely seen in Czech cinema, and I can only recall another film by Herz, Morgiana, which had the same visual style, from hairstyles to clothing. Overall impression: 95%. (12.09.2014)

Herz changed the balance of power in the story (Štěpa lost her determination and combativeness), dramatized his final tone and, above all, cast Petr Čepek as the "spider", making The Petroleum Lamps de facto a one-man show. An extraordinarily strong psychological film, but I prefer the novel after all, because it is deeper and more sophisticated (but that's the way it is with these books: :o)) (05.02.2004)