That was an excellent one.

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Like most people I was intrigued when I heard the concept of this film, especially the "film makers were then attacked" aspect that the case seems to emphasize, what with the picture on the cover of the film makers being chased by an angry mob.Then, to watch the film and discover, oh, what they mean by "the film makers were attacked" was some kids threw rocks at a sign and a number of people complained loudly and said "Someone should beat those two kids up." The picture on the cover, "the chase" as it were? Total fabrication. Which I guess ties in with the theme of the film, lying and manipulation to satisfy vain, stupid children with more money and time then sense.I have no idea what great truth the viewer is supposed to take away from this film. It's like Michael Moore's "Roger & Me", but if "Roger & Me" was Moore mocking the people of Flint. It's completely misdirected and totally inane. Wow! Can you believe that people who suffered under the yoke of Communism would be really excited to have markets full of food? What jerks! And it's not so much, "Look at the effects of capitalism and western media blah blah blah", since it wasn't just that their fake market had comparable prices to the competitors, it was that, as many people in the film say, the prices were absurdly low, someone mentions that they should've known it was fake by how much they were charging for duck. That's not proving anything except that people who are poor, will go to a store that has low prices, bravo fellas, way to stick it to the people on the bottom.Way to play a stupid practical joke on elderly people. You should be very proud. How about for your next movie you make a documentary about Iraq and show how people there will get really excited for a house without bullet holes in the walls and then, say, "HAHA! NO SUCH HOUSE EXISTS! YOUR SO STUPID AND LOVED TO BE LIED TO BY THE MEDIA!".Morgan "Please Like Me" Spurlock unleashed this wet fart of a film and it's no surprise since Spurlock as One Hit Wonder prince of the documentary world seems to throw his weight behind any silly sounding concept to stay relevant in a world that really has no need of him.Avoid like the plague.

Everyone with any opinion about advertising (which, in this hyper-mediated world, is pretty much anyone) has at LEAST a half-aware understanding of the ability of advertising to affect their lives. Czech Dream is a movie about just that, as two student filmmakers design an ad campaign for a product that doesn't even exist, a hypermarket (which is, from what I saw in the movie, sort of a mix between a wholesale market and a supermarket) that advertises its opening day by saying such things as, "Don't come!" and "Don't spend!" Two thousand people arrive anyway.This documentary is most effective in its complete simplicity. The filmmakers and crew take no time trying to hide their judgment or view from the movie--you can even see the mics, lighting set ups, other cameramen, and so on--because the idea here is NOT to create a so-called objective documentary but to show much more directly and personally the power of advertising over people. This power is something everyone perceives, but not as many people really believe in, until something like this occurs and two thousand people are left on a field with nothing in it but a banner.Czech Dream is full of wonderful details. Vit and Filip spend little time detailing the actual process, focusing more on the message that the ads are trying to create, and allows most of the film's time to settle on people's comments about it. The self-serving dialog of the advertisers ("Oh, I think this is a horrible thing, but we're professionals and so we'll do it. It's like a doctor who has to save a rapist" "I like being an advertiser, you know, I like going out with my friends and knowing that I am the one that moves the world" "Filmmakers lie, advertisers don't lie") is well foiled by the reactions of the crowd of people who actually arrived, whose opinions range from "Hey, I know what this is, this is two people trying to get us outside for once! Let's have a picnic!" to "I'm going to take you to court for this!" and who, amazingly, take very little time in connecting the event to its political meaning (one that the filmmakers didn't really intend).One thing about this documentary I find particularly interesting, though, is how much it focuses on "Czech" aspects of it, even though there's nothing besides that one word that makes it any different from any other ad campaign. The fake hypermarket is called "Czech Dream" to create a sense of consumerist paradise, of course, but most of the reactions of everyone involves the idea that they were lead to be tricked BECAUSE they were Czech (which some people are angry about, others amused), when in fact a situation like this can occur anywhere advertising of this type exists (everywhere? Maybe not in the third world, but that's contestable as well). Of course, here in the United States, if anyone did this, they'd get sued or something (Americans have no sense of humor). But still, the message is surprisingly universal despite how personalized and small the two filmmakers tried to make it.--PolarisDiB

If you're as much of a fan of a well conceived prank as much as I am, well, get yourself up,out & to any cinema that is showing Czech Dream. Czech Dream (or Cesky Sen,as it's called),is a well planned out prank by two Czech student film makers that gage reaction in their fellow citizens regarding consumer culture. After the Velvet Revolution of 1989,which led to the formation of the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, people basically wanted the same things that their neighbours in the West wanted:basic creature comforts (and didn't have to stand in endless lines for). Filip Remunda & Vit Klusak have crafted a tongue in cheek black comedy about attacking the vulnerability in people by creating a hypermarket that doesn't exist. It's just a well put together prank (with the film being the making of the prank). The reaction of the Czech masses when they show up to go on a buying frenzy, only to find out that their beloved Cesky Sen is all a prank. Some folk (such as I) will walk away with a perverse smile,like we were just witness to a well put together joke, others will probably walk out, feeling the same anger that some of the shoppers felt. This is a film I would recommend to anyone who is familiar with pranksters such as 'The Yes Men'(who also have a equally sly film documentary on some of their antics,which I also recommend). Czech Dream is a film that one will have to do a bit of searching out to find, but is well worth it.

are we really that stupid? sorry but it seems so.. great idea..the guys that actually did this are amazing and so down to earth..they showed up at tiff (well, one of them did) and you could really realize who comes up which such ideas...young freaks (and it's a compliment) that are convinces that something they do can actually change the way people think, even if at a small range (perhaps far too small)..has it changed anyone? well, the czechs may have some unresolved problems (the boys are actually suing the government :))..but it seems as the movie continues its road along europe it becomes more obvious that such a prank was all so needed..a wake up call maybe for europe..to ad or not to ad..to believe everything they sell or not to believe anything they sell