Goldbeater

Brainwashed brings good insights, interesting analyses and a few things to think about, but when the director only cites her own works as examples of "how to do it right", it comes across as tooting her own horn. [KVIFF 2022]

This film is beating inside me. I would not like to admire it just because of the common phrase "good for a Czech film", although that is what it is. The manifesto of Wiński et al. is itself apt and I agree with it in principle on many, many points. At the same time, the creators say that they do not consider their works to be perfect, and I would underline that here. I can't help feeling that the script downplays the issues presented in an unrealistic way and the character arc comes across as too simple. Borders of Love is actually a film where I could have imagined some extra twenty minutes, some extra plot loop, some extra viewer satisfaction, but unfortunately I got none. Nevertheless, I recommend it, as a Czech film, it definitely stands out from most of the current production. [KVIFF 2022]

A believable, very human immersion into the world of young modern Sioux who are still searching for their place in the world decades after their ancestors were irrevocably uprooted. It's beautifully put together, remarkably acted and I understand what it's trying to say, yet I must cynically add that it simply lacks the pull at the gate that would have got me as a viewer in the finale. [KVIFF 2022]

All it would have taken was a few unfortunate creative decisions and the film would have sunk under the weight of its controversial subject matter. But Emmanuelle Nicot handled it very well. [KVIFF 2022]

I didn't expect much from a sci-fi co-production between Lithuania, France and Belgium, so I was amazed at the ideas and creativity the people behind Vesper came up with within their own fictional world, and what's more, how effectively they show them on screen. The design of the post-apocalyptic landscape and its creatures, which seem to have fallen out of Garland's Annihilation, together with the realistic special effects are at a very decent level for a European genre production. The story, while somewhat conventional, is nonetheless unchallenging at its core and firmly based on very solid performances, among which Richard Brake in particular stands out in a considerably subdued yet brilliantly acted role. For me a little surprise in this year's festival and especially in the otherwise uninteresting main competition section. [KVIFF 2022]

A pleasant plunge into the interior of seemingly happy, but internally very fragile relationships between partners, which can make a somewhat forced holiday practically hell. It's quite apt, slightly funny, slightly provocative, but for me personally, in the final analysis, not groundbreaking and bringing nothing new. [KVIFF 2022]

All the variations on the genre classification of historical/biographical dramas in the various descriptions of this film are very misguided. Corsage, on the one hand, interprets the real story of Elizabeth of Bavaria in a very peculiar, rather fictional way, and on the other it is also anything but a boring and conventional costume drama. The sensitively told story gives a glimpse under the veil of make-believe into the heart of someone yearning for self-realisation and emancipation, which is perfectly underlined by the Cannes award-winning performance of Vicky Krieps. What is interesting are the directorial tweaks, which through the various sets and the chosen soundtrack deliberately break down the boundaries between the historical period when the film takes place and the relevant present. [KVIFF 2022]

Alexandre O. Philippe delivers another documentary delicacy for cinephiles and again with a new, brilliantly functional concept, where six filmmakers and experts in six chapters freely analyse the influence of 1939's The Wizard of Oz on the world filmography and especially the work of David Lynch. It is packed with information, interesting interpretations, personal feelings and, of course, genuine viewer enthusiasm. What else can you ask for? [KVIFF 2022]

Fire of Love is a better romance, comedy, drama, disaster flick and thriller than most of the current cinematic fiction that tries to be classified as such. And yet it's "just" a documentary about two unique people with a unique story and even more unique archive of footage. The story of Katia and Maurice Krafft is bound to grab you by the heart and never let go. And I'm very curious to see how the identical material in Werner Herzog's take turns out in The Fire Within. This year it just came together. [KVIFF 2022]

BANGER. is an incredibly frenetically filmed adventure of one night in Prague, and at the same time it is very progressive filmmaking that brings welcome and mainly necessary waves to the otherwise quite stagnant waters of contemporary Czech cinema. I have some minor reservations; I would have cut back on some things and pushed the envelope on others, but all in all it is a high energy ride with dynamism, a distinctive directorial grip and authentic acting. [KVIFF 2022]