Stanislaus

500 Days of Summer is a sweet romantic dramedy with a likable cast in the lead roles and an unconventionally portrayed relationship between two people who meet by chance. Aside from the narrative style, which was purposefully non-linear, I liked the uncharacteristic ending, which gives a run for its money to the vast majority of overseas films of a similar genre. In short, a film suitable for brightening up a day in which love, fatality, disappointment and hope collide.

Aaron lives his stereotypical life as an Orthodox Jew and feels dead inside, but all that changes with the arrival of Ezri. Aaron's life takes a breath and he finds himself in a dream. But there always comes a day when everyone must wake up. An engaging film with a likeable lead cast that draws on a fairly unorthodox premise. How one can face something that doesn't really exist (or shouldn't exist). In short, a nice surprise from Israel in the form of a romantic drama in which love, religion, faith and beliefs collide.

A romantic-dramatic comedy about a love that was not favoured by the social climate of the time and many other circumstances. The Trip is a film that purposefully mixes comic and relaxed scenes with tense and tragic ones, while the love story finds its place. Even though it's more of a modest and (in appearance) TV movie, it still got me. I'm sure it could have done with a little more in certain places, but I was still satisfied in the end. In short, a film about an unconventional look at one couple in love, influenced by contemporary events across a decade.

Daisies is a very provocative affair, full of colour, captivating imagery, unexpected leaps in the plot (if there is one), all of which is dominated by two utterly wicked girls whose actions and dealings with other people are very controversial. In terms of visual stylization, this film is very imaginative, no question about it. But personally, I was bothered by the two leads - I understand that they were supposed to be spoiled, but besides that they were quite annoying (in a bad way) and talked like first grade girls (which really irritated me). But the near-final scene, in which the two girls totally ruin the feast and then swing on the chandelier, was very well shot and memorable. In short, a film that I thought, even with the opening scene, wasn't going to be my cup of tea - and I wasn't too far wrong.

In the context of films dealing with LGBT issues, this one tackles an unusual and original subject. Imagine being gay in Nazi Germany, which is even worse than being Jewish (and that's saying something, considering history). The film deals with love behind the barbed wire of a labor camp, where all the prisoners are basically on death row (whether voluntary or involuntary). The opening cabaret sequence was very debauched and suggestive, and then the film rides a mostly dramatic wave that was laced with romantic peripeties. In short, a film in which gay people are viewed from a different contemporary perspective than what we are used to.

For me personally, Peter and Pavla is comparable to Forman's later film The Firemen's Ball (not thematically, but rather in atmosphere). It mirrors both the problems of a teenage boy and his relationship with his father, which is not always so rosy. The film is very funny and witty in many places - for example, the scenes with Vladimir Pucholt, or the scenes from the shop - which balances the dramatic line. At times I was a little bothered by the all-too-real (perhaps even improvised) scenes, which, although inherent to the film, are characteristic of Forman's Czech films, but I'm personally used to different acting, which is not to say that it does any harm. In short, a typical and illustrative example of Czech New Wave filmmaking, built on scenes from ordinary life and the "acting" of Jan Vostrčil, Vladimír Pucholt and Ladislav Jakim.