I have watched most of the work of Vit Klusak. "Czech Dream" was a proper document, its aim was to reflect the eagerness of retired people within the Czech working class. It was obviously controversial - old people should not be a target of ridicule - but fair enough. The genre was pure, simply because everything was properly described.
In "Tabloid workers", the author took famous Czech yellow paper journalist and gave him a space. Here, the protagonist's heartlessness and eagerness was portrayed. It seemed that the journalist was slightly manipulated. But again, fair enough, he was young, intelligent, and he kinda deserved it.
In "Matrix AB", the same procedure was applied to a Czech vice- premier, magnate and politician. Mr. Klusak made him a complete jerk. This deserves a lot of courage. And after all, the protagonist must be sort of dummy, with his all PR makers that allowed this.
But, recently, there was an episode of Czech Kitchen Nightmares produced by Mr. Klusak, where a Czech 16y old boy with mental medical condition was exposed to ridicule. And this time, it was definitely over the line.
Finally, in "The White World According to Daliborek", I think the protagonist was a similar case like the 16y boy. This 36y old guy would be competent for a document, OK, but not for this sophisticated manipulation. His IQ seemed to be below the average (he had troubles to even finish his apprenticeship), and he obviously suffered from some personality disorder (he behaved like most of us in our childhood years). He was even so naive he agreed with the acting.
My immediate feeling from the movie was quite good. But then I have red and watched the background. It turned out that some scenes were acted based on real situation ("Please, show us what you did last year"), some where completely prepared ("We will take you to a shooting or to a Nazi meeting and show us for the camera how radical you are"). The bus for the Osvetim tour was made just for the movie. The guy was paid for the acting. etc. etc.
As the result, I did not know what to believe, and what was just a manipulation.
There are other good document makers in CZ (Trestikova, Sommerova) who do their job slightly less spectacular, but certainly a lot more seriously.
On the other hand, one can make a fiction just for fun, like Sasa Baron Kohen did. Where, at least, Mr. Kohen acted the fictional characters himself.
In "Tabloid workers", the author took famous Czech yellow paper journalist and gave him a space. Here, the protagonist's heartlessness and eagerness was portrayed. It seemed that the journalist was slightly manipulated. But again, fair enough, he was young, intelligent, and he kinda deserved it.
In "Matrix AB", the same procedure was applied to a Czech vice- premier, magnate and politician. Mr. Klusak made him a complete jerk. This deserves a lot of courage. And after all, the protagonist must be sort of dummy, with his all PR makers that allowed this.
But, recently, there was an episode of Czech Kitchen Nightmares produced by Mr. Klusak, where a Czech 16y old boy with mental medical condition was exposed to ridicule. And this time, it was definitely over the line.
Finally, in "The White World According to Daliborek", I think the protagonist was a similar case like the 16y boy. This 36y old guy would be competent for a document, OK, but not for this sophisticated manipulation. His IQ seemed to be below the average (he had troubles to even finish his apprenticeship), and he obviously suffered from some personality disorder (he behaved like most of us in our childhood years). He was even so naive he agreed with the acting.
My immediate feeling from the movie was quite good. But then I have red and watched the background. It turned out that some scenes were acted based on real situation ("Please, show us what you did last year"), some where completely prepared ("We will take you to a shooting or to a Nazi meeting and show us for the camera how radical you are"). The bus for the Osvetim tour was made just for the movie. The guy was paid for the acting. etc. etc.
As the result, I did not know what to believe, and what was just a manipulation.
There are other good document makers in CZ (Trestikova, Sommerova) who do their job slightly less spectacular, but certainly a lot more seriously.
On the other hand, one can make a fiction just for fun, like Sasa Baron Kohen did. Where, at least, Mr. Kohen acted the fictional characters himself.
