Isherwood

Someone from the creators must have experienced this because it can't be invented. I say this as someone who has had a similar experience as the pair of protagonists. It's a perfect synthesis of meticulous screenwriting, confident direction, and precise casting. The trailers and media coverage during the premiere (and after the Czech Lion awards) actually hint at a horror parody, but when Valérie appears on the scene, I felt physically ill after ten minutes because Jan Vejnar and Tomáš Pavlíček embarked on a character study that is chillingly accurate. It's a pity about the dragged-out ending and the finale that fizzled out.

The great work with music and detailed camera want to let you know that this has something to do with an artistic generational statement, but that is not the case. The film is absolutely lacking in passion and a drop of drama. The transformation from a promising athlete to a porn star is rushed, and fatal injuries are presented as trivialities that don't really hurt. It lacks doubts about one's own dignity, a stronger clash with family values (the unused character of the father), and anything else that would make it interesting (besides the theme). It's like porn - it gets straight to the point, ticking off towards a predictable climax, but you catch yourself tending to skip over some passages.

At the school projection, this bored the kids a lot and many colleagues as well. But a few more perceptive individuals enjoyed it just like I did, meaning that skimming the surface accurately reflects the minds of individual actors when the director does not delve deep into any of them and in those ping-pong exchanges, he casually lets hidden traumas, pain, and hopes bubble up. According to the synopsis, I wanted to skip that hour, but in the end, I was surprised at how emotionally gripping it became.