NinadeL

Juraj Nvota learned from the best. However, he's coming out with his own feature films relatively late. However, the bold subject matter and Tania Pauhofová's first adult role make Nvoto's debut an unforgettable experience that will remain in the memory for a long time. Pre-war life in a Slovak village recalls the fate of the people of Palánek as captured by Ladislav Ballek. People's destinies are determined by their basic needs and instincts; emotions are pure but volatile. Ondřej Vetchý doesn't look out of place and fits perfectly into the Slovak cast. The set is functional.

Of Hanák's five feature films, I Love, You Love stands out somewhat. Gone is the New Wave of 322, just as the semi-documentary approach of Rose Tinted Dreams is passé. And the purely feminine theme of Simple Pleasures and Private Lives was yet to come. Only interest in man remained.

Hanák's feature film debut impressed to such an extent that it was withdrawn from circulation for two decades shortly after its premiere and awards. Formally it is an ambitious work, alarming in content, yet the musical component is crucial to the viewer's experience, acting as a necessary soothing balm.

The Southern Mail was preceded by The Assistant and in recent years by Agava. The Southern Mail itself is enticing for its autobiographical elements from the life of the author, who spent his childhood in Dudince and Šahy (Palánek). Párnický concentrates mainly on the story of the preschooler Janek (Peter Zeman), but the actors in the adult roles are also excellent, although they get minimal space - Jiří Bartoska, Magda Vášáryová, Zdena Studenková...

The Tobacco Captain is one of the many operettas produced by Lenfilm in the 1970s. The premiere of the operetta took place on the 25th anniversary of the Revolutionary War.

A very weak version of Lenfilm's Netopýr. It doesn't impress, it doesn't excite. But I'm glad the processing was at least respectful. In contrast to Nitouche, which the comrades made a proper fiasco out of in 1976.

The first of two beautiful female films by Dušan Hanák and Magda Vašáryová. Quiet Happiness follows a turning point in the life of a pediatric ward nurse who loses herself in the routine of her workplace and private life. Losing herself next to a selfish man and an insensitive mother-in-law, her solution may be an affair in the workplace or just honest conversations with colleagues. And of course the smile of an abandoned child. Apart from the classically excellent Magda, all the others act above their standard performances: the brooding Bartoška, the emancipated Brejchová, the empathetic Nvota, but also the episodic actors Holubová, Asterová, Navrátil, Goldflam, Kretschmerová and Šišková.

The operetta The Firefly (1912) was a breakthrough in Rudolf Friml's American career. It was an extraordinary success, with 120 performances of the first production on Broadway. In the 1930s, Friml's name is often associated with Jeanette MacDonald's operetta films produced by MGM. However, times have changed, and L. B. Mayer decided that MacDonald's subsequent films could no longer be all relaxing and beautiful, and had the original plot about an Italian singer on the streets of New York adapted to take into account the ongoing Spanish Civil War. That's how MacDonald became a spy from Francisco Goya's time. Garbo could have been her role model as much as The Mysterious Lady or Mata Hari. The Spanish motifs correspond to Hollywood's idea of the Hispanic world, as in Dietrich's film The Devil Is a Woman. MacDonald's acting partners were Allan Jones and Warren William, representing ideal opposites.

I first came across the poster for this film 20 years ago in the then-permanent exhibition in the Trade Fair Palace dedicated to First Republic cinema. And indeed it was enough to live through the many vicissitudes of two decades of life and watch this rarity slowly become an affordable commodity. We can all understand the shyness of the dramaturgists to classify Osudná chvíle as a memorial film, but the fact that the film has not been available for many years even in universities (its knowledge would be useful for many disciplines, not only film) is alarming. In this way, Osudná chvíle was preceded by many years by Her Sin, also dealing with the subject of syphilis. Anyway, I am happy that the ice has been broken and everyone can process their own viewing experience of this extraordinary cultural film, whose cinematic qualities are considerable. The cinematography and materials about Prague are great, the acting is average but not uninteresting, the message is obvious and the infamous didactic passage is very necessary and bluntly useful even today.

At the time, I was quite excited for the new Red Sonja they were promising with Rose McGowan in the lead role. But obviously it's better that this version of Conan didn't make any headway. Momoa and Perlman did their best, but the result is so... awkward.