Just so...so bad

From my favorite movies..

An absolute waste of money

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Spending a month watching one Czech film a day,I decided to stick to a limit of movies made in the Cold War era.Entering phase II,I decided that it was the perfect time to get rid of the limit,and take a look at all eras of Czech cinema. Spotting the title a while ago online,I decided that it was the best time to see a Czech get made.The plot:Growing up in Occupied Czech, Jakub Vrána finds small time cheats to make cash under commie rule.Watching the Berlin Wall fall on TV, Vrána starts to think about reaching the new "Czech Dream" with his riches. Becoming very rich in the new capitalist system, Vrána finds himself never reaching a level,where he will feel that he has finally discovered the all American "Czech Dream."View on the film:Going full circle,director Tomás Rehorek & cinematographer Antonio Riestra crystallise the colours to heighten the off-centre reality that Vrána,with waves of misty yellow and blue washing over Vrána's mountain of cash.Shaking the title into a quirky atmosphere, Rehorek and Riestra swing round Vrána in speedy whip-pans which capture the "high" Vrána gets from each fistful of cash. Displaying notes of Film Noir,the screenplay by Milan Bukovecký/Ota Klempír and Jirí Hubácek take the unique side of making Jakub Vrána (played by a brilliantly odd Jan Budar) a forgetful narrator,whose narration moves so fast that Jakub always ends up forgetting about major details. Cracking open the Czech American Dream,the writers take a sharp satirical sting at communism and capitalism, which whilst keeping its examination of Vrána,does lead to very funny displays of pure excess,as Vrána becomes a made man.

Semi non-linear narration and creative editing takes you on a journey of a poor boy who wants to strike it rich and turns a millionaire just to go back to the streets, back to riches, to jail, to foreign countries, always up and down, then spiced up with alcoholism, drugs, sex, and all the good stuff that backfires. I stumbled across this movie randomly but could not wish for more. Definitely a rewatch is in order. It's got such a rich story line and relatively short running time that I'll totally get immersed again.For non-native Czech speakers the movie will lose some of the slang dialog wonders but there are also English and Chinese dialogs as the movie takes you across different locations. Wonderful, fast-paced, entertaining!I am a Czech living in Maine for the past 17 years and downloading a movie like this makes my night. It starts off before 1989 before the Velvet Revolution happened (I was 12 then) and it goes through the transitions into the future, and I think the portrayal was accurate and funny and nostalgic... Now it's time for me to become a millionaire!!

It would be simply perfect, with 3 exceptions: - Very deep colorization is a powerful tool, but should have continuity. Changing the color tones without reason is disturbing - On the beginning is one special shot (involving the accordion), which will tell how it will end – which is a major spoiler for me - Typical Czech end, where movie cannot end with negative emotions and we must add something, even if it doesn't adds to the storyThe story was IMO very good, it wasn't quite clear where it will move in the next minute/cut. Camera was very good, especially those quick/slow motions, which has added to the pacing. For a natural Czech language watcher, there was a problem with a casting, where some characters which should have no knowledge of Czech language, one can hear Czech accent – sometimes. Details, but masterpiece is made of details. That's why only 7/10 (and considering it was movie from my era)