The Sins of Youth

Films were made well in Prague and badly in České Budějovice and in Brno. At first glance, The Sins of Youth may be as much a work of art as the brilliant The Summer Camp of Young Dreams, but on second glance we in fact find one treasure alongside another. Some of the actors started their film careers here, such as Rudolf Deyl Jr. (a comedian - a builder, above all), Vladimír Leraus (a Protectorate celadon, for example) or Jožka Stoklasa (who took another 40 years to make his presence known in film). Valentin Šindler ended his work with this film and Czech cinema lost an interesting refreshment in the form of humor. This was also the first time Máňa Pavlíková acted in a sound film. This time she at least showed her sporty figure in a swimsuit. I think it's a great pity that Otto Ballon didn’t apply himself more. I have no reservations about Hanka Vítová either, as some of her minor stumbles may have been due to her flashy theatrical performances. If we take a close look at her journey upward, it's basically a great achievement to be the only Prague star in such a project in only her fourth year in film. From a formal point of view, The Sins of Youth is a solid effort by an amateur filmmaker and an experienced theater actor in one, so the result is inconsistent, but thanks to a certain inconsistency, a new perpetuity finds its place, and that's not really a bad thing. (19.02.2009)