The Prague Orgy (2019) User Reviews

THIS ORGY'S NO FUN

[mmthos · 7/10 · 13 September 2021]

But that's not to say this picture's bad. An American writer (Jonas Chernick) goes to Prague in the 1970's to recover manuscripts of a great lost Yiddish writter and finds himself absorbed into an orgy of Czech lamentation over lost liberties. A thinly veiled account of author Philip Roth's experience in the same real-life situation, Chernick has Roth's look, but not the smarts and charisma in a role written, and played, as a naif who takes his New World assumption of civil liberties into a maelstrom of Old World oppression of political discontents, social degenerates, and enemies of the revolution, as labeled by their regime. But what a lot of Slavic talent surrounds him, especially Kseniya Rappoport. How well they capture the frustrated creativity, mental torture, fear and insecurity under ubiquitous surveillance where everyone is suspect, and sex and booze are the only consolations.

Worth a look.

City of Stories

[sharonkathleenjohnson · 10/10 · 11 April 2023]

Living in a relatively young country like America, we can be blissfully unaware how untold European generations of intellectuals can devolve into jaded nihilism or dogmatic elitism, especially a country of writers and artists like Czechoslovakia. Its shabbily ancient cities have become claustrophobic fishbowls of intrigue, paranoia, and infighting. A famous American author sets out to fight the suppression of leftist writers, naively believing his fame will protect him. It's never clear who eventually undermines him or if the intricate system of spies, informers, and surveillance set him up to fail from the get go. One truly grieves for the confiscated manuscript and the explosive secrets it must contain. The dance of deceit between said famous author and Olga (a character like no other in all of cinema--a force of nature akin to Kali, that convoluted Hindu goddess of both birth and death) sparks with scintillating dialogue and dark humor. In fact, the cooly sardonic humor throughout this film is so evocative of its faux-lascivious creator, Philip Roth, that Czecks should not be insulted by its specific location--it grapples with great universal literary themes such as state versus individual, right versus left, art versus realpolitik, which could happen anywhere given enough corruption, paranoia, and economic insecurity. A stunning adaptation!