Protraph
Lack of good storyline.
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
museumofdave
There are dozens of redeeming qualities in this excellent Czech film, not the least is a feeling for a living village populated with actual people, certainly a result of dedicated ensemble acting; the film also imparts a sense of the natural beauty too often defiled by man's obsession with power and war (much in the manner of Terence Malick, but less oblique), and the cameos by both old and young and old actors create wonderful funny and touching moments.A woman is forced by circumstances to abandon city sophistication--a lover, smart clothes, new American music--and without much choice must marry a weathered old woodsman she earlier helped save from death...one can surely predict much of the outcome, but not the vivid scenes in the local school, or mill, or the hiding place in the swamp; this is a rich film with very good things to say about adaptation and learning--the ending is certainly problematic, and did not have to be all sweetness and light--but certainly it would have been surprising to delve into alternate solutions other than the director's final choice; otherwise, highly recommended!
kenjha
During Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, a nurse who is part of the resistance movement flees to the countryside to avoid persecution. There are good performances from Geislerova as the nurse and Cserhalmi as the uneducated fellow she marries to help change her identity. As long as the movie is focusing on their relationship, it works fine. However, the script is all over the place, with secondary threads on an abusive drunkard, a school principal, a priest, a delinquent boy, a precocious girl, a man moving in with his daughter-in-law, etc. The filmmakers apparently were intent on making an epic, but the result is a good-looking but dreary film that goes on far too long.
dumarest-3
The DVD contained an addition about making of the movie. A few items of interest - the main characters were of different language groups and could not in fact communicate as the film was made - the woman Czech I think, the man Hungarian. The film took aver a year to film, so that the change of seasons could be shown and so that the young characters, so important to the film in general, could believably age. The actors ranged in age from 6 days - the birth scene - to 92 - the old woman in the early scene when the Resistance drop failed I think.My wife's comment that it reminded her of Cold Mountain rings true, as others have noted.
Redhawk2004
Hands down this is one of the top ten best movies I have ever seen. It succeeds on every level, with excellent cinematography, scenery, story, acting and even music. The acting is especially superb, with the characters and their interactions always seeming real and unforced. Even the child actors are utterly convincing, and the little girl in particular brings a sense of wide-eyed innocence and charm to her role.****POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW******The story is about a young medical student named Eliska, who is a member of the Czech resistance during WWII. When the Gestapo captures one of her comrades, she is forced to abandon her old life and flee to the mountains with Joza, a man whose life she saved by giving him a blood transfusion. As part of her new identity, she must enter into a sham marriage with Joza, in order to be accepted by her new, highly religious community and to avoid being arrested or sent to Germany as a laborer. The story revolves around her adaptation to life in this beautiful mountain village where people live much as they did 150 years ago, and her growing attachment and commitment to Joza and the people around her.The romance between Eliska and Joza proceeds in a believable, if inevitable, way, making an improbable pairing seem perfectly natural. Nevertheless there is nothing Hollywood about this romance or this movie, and that is a great strength. It aims for realism in depicting not only the bucolic beauty of village life, but also its dark underbelly, with some of the nastier villagers raping, assaulting and informing on others, while everyone drinks heavily.For anyone who has ever suffered major life changes after a sudden reversal of fortune or a tragedy, and has had to pick up the pieces and start again, you will likely identify with Eliska and find the whole premise of the movie to be convincing; it just feels right, somehow.I have seen this movie three times, and it gets better with every viewing, even knowing what is going to happen. It is a pity that Hollywood just can't seem to produce a movie that has this kind of depth and emotional resonance.
