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Absolutely Fantastic

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Czech film makers seem to prefer dark stories of human misery, weakness, and unhappiness. They make such pictures rather well, but it seems to be the only genre that they produce. This movie is true to this general mold. It's a story of a family that consists of the parents and teenage son and daughter. They seem to be caught in a web of hopelessness and despair, and there is pathetically little in their lives to give them joy. Their problems seem ordinary enough, but it's their attitudes of apathy that predicts that whatever the outcome, they will be unhappy. Only the son finds a brief moment of happiness with a stripper, but the viewer realizes that the boy is too naive to anticipate the course that relationship must take. I can find no fault with the movie other than its depressing message, which seems to be that "life sucks." The acting and the cinematography support well this general premise. The movie is well made and for this reason worth seeing. I just wish it was more upbeat, giving at least a glimmer of a "happy end".

Czech screenwriter and director Zdenel Jirasky's feature film debut which he wrote, was screened in the East to the West section at the 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in Czech Republic and is a Czech Republic production which was produced by producer Viktor Schwarcz. It tells the story about a middle-aged railway guard named Jarda who lives with his wife Kamila, their son Honze and their daughter Agata in an apartment in a village called Bohemia. It's December, and while Jarda looks for ways to take care of his debts and encounters a Vietnamese man, Kamila is taking care of the household and about to participate in the making of an erotic calendar, Agata awaits her boyfriend Matej and tells her friend Magda a secret and Honze meets a stripper named Susana whom he falls in love with.Subtly and precisely directed by Czech filmmaker Zdenel Jirasky, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints, draws a singular and engaging portrayal of a Czech family and the strange events that occurs as they are preparing for Christmas. While notable for its naturalistic and distinct milieu depictions, fine cinematography by cinematographer Vladimir Smutny, costume design by costume designer Iva Raskova and use of sound, this character-driven and dialog-driven dark comedy where trains create continuity and becomes a character in itself, depicts some dense studies of character and contains a good score by composer Martin Prikryl.This poignantly atmospheric, somewhat romantic and at times humorous drama which is set during a winter in an industrial Czech community where the trains seem to move faster than life, examines themes like family relations, interpersonal relations and friendship and is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, subtle character development, colorful characters, interrelated stories and the efficiently understated acting performances by actor Vladimir Jarovský, actress Malgorzata Pikus, actress Marika Soposká, actor Miroslav Pánek, actress Natalie Rehorova and actress Aneta Krejciková. A mindful, witty and unorthodox directorial debut about the absurdities of life.