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Reviews
Teströl és lélekröl (2017)
A great idea but a lost opportunity
On Body and Soul
Review by George Kun
The sheer beauty of the forest winter landscape with a couple of majestic deer, roaming freely and playfully in a pre-mating exploratory game is stunning. It would fit well into a National Geographic production. But that's not what the movie is all about.
The curious and hopeful audience is already primed by the high profile of this award winning production and expects nothing less than what an Eastern European movie should deliver in exchange for a very low budget production: an original idea, a strong and clever plot, very talented actors, superior acting, witty dialogues, and a good fit of the characters into the story line.
Well, well , a very tall order, indeed. Unfortunately it was grossly under delivered, because of the major flows that are both unexplainable and unforgivable.
Maria , who is hosting parts of the body and soul, had a long journey from spending some virtual time with Sigmund Freud, crawling awkwardly between the pages of Stefan Zweig's writings and then spending some time with Paolo Coelho, landing shortly in the Psychiatric Sanatorium in Ljubljana and getting to know Veronica, who wanted to die.
Sometime later, she parachuted herself into a Hungarian slaughter house, right into a very demanding and potentially stressful position of "Quality Control Manager". Anyone who has the faintest knowledge about an industrial environment, the demands of such a job, the strong communications and people's skill required to get and stay in such a job, would realize quickly that in real life, Maria would never be hired in that position. For anyone, expecting a surprise change, adaption, or some turn of the plot that would add credibility to the movie...well, it just did not happen. Maria starts her career and continues to be antisocial and self defeating. She likes to sit alone in the cafeteria, and promptly get-up and leave if anyone would approach her or try to talk to her. When Geza, the Financial Manager come to her table she quickly broke her code of silence or cold passive aggressive monosyllabic style of communications, by rudely offending Geza with a reference to his crippled arm. Totally unprovoked. Geza, a fairly complex character with his own problems, did not leave the table; instead took-up the challenge to get to know and explore this strange, untamed woman.
Through a strange set of circumstances, both Maria and Geza find out that they have identical dreams, that they share. This is where the deer come into the picture, because that was what the two people are consistently dreaming about.
A new hope raises for the puzzled spectator, that maybe the two humans will follow into the steps of the dear, and some true friendship, maybe love will ensue.
Based on this only bond, while Maria is still morbidly shy, antisocial, deeply ignorant and inexperienced in the nature of human relations and without any progression in their intimacy, she somehow initiates the premature idea of sleeping together, so that they can share in the morning their dreams. They starting doing that, in a highly uncomfortable and pitiful arrangement. She was sleeping in her bed and Geza on the floor, like a kid in a "slumber party".
It is not clear why Geza, a man at least 30 years older than Maria and with a messed-up but experienced sexual life agreed to this strange arrangement. For sure some curiosity and expectation of something special. Nothing special happened and not even something ordinary , so Geza got tired of this experiment and called it quits.
Maria took it very personally, to her "heart and soul", went home, broke the balcony window, took a sharp shard of glass and went to lie into the water filling bath tub. She then cut her veins on both forearms. Then the phone rang, it was Geza. He wanted to see her. After lots of bleeding, Maria miraculously bandaged her arm (only the left one is seen in the movie, the right one was left out or it miraculously healed itself). She took a break from suicide, went to Geza who made very impassionate love to her, careful not to touch her bandaged arm.
The rest is left to the imagination of the viewer, if they cared to imagine anything.
In summary:
1. A great, original and very promising idea, completely lost its impact because the way the movie was made.
2. The pace of the movie is excruciatingly slow, and there is little in the substance or plot development to justify the two hours lengths.
3. Maria is a very average looking woman and does not exhibit any particular intellectual or personality attributes to make -up for it. Well, she has good memory, to be fair. Her attempted suicide appears hard to comprehend and it's almost gratuitous. No drama build-up at all in that non-existing relationship.
4. Geza is a much older man, more fit for a counsellor or father figure, but none of that is in demand, either.
5. If Maria was a lonely poetess or artist of some kind, preferably in the last century, the movie would have worked much better. "Quality Control Manager" in a modern contemporary slaughterhouse? Let's get serious. Really poor casting.
6. I would be very interested to hear the comments from the people who awarded the big prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Final Score: Deer in the winter forest: 1
Rest of the movie: 0
Rita (2012)
Pure Intelligent and Provocative Enjoyment
RITA
Synopsis
by George Kun
"Rita" is a contemporary provocative and clever Danish TV series, in 24 episodes over three seasons, offering countless laughs, chuckles, and surprises.
In fact, it is about the journey of a spectacular and magic woman's ass, with such a seductive power that it gets constantly bulging eyes, dropping jaws, sweaty necks, pulsing breath, abundant salivation and mental distraction. On top of that, the mesmerized watchers following the provocatively moving and swaying miracle will also get to see the daylight through a tiny crack created by the combination of superbly shaped upper thighs and tight fitting jeans. True model "fare".
The target audience receptive to these charms is mostly lustful men, envious women and even children who can easily and naturally identify things that have eye-pleasing aesthetics.
This physical attribute does not simply float alone in the air, but is cleverly grafted on a real woman, who has plenty of other great attributes as well, even though her relationships, achievements, career moves, romances, victories, and setbacks revolve mainly around her main asset, her behind.
In all fairness, substantial credit is due to her other charming bodily possessions like her shaggy, bouncing, shoulder length ash-blonde hair and her eyes. Rita's eyes are not simply just beautiful but have a personality and a powerful message communication power, as well. She can look at you intensely and deeply, to evaluate if are worthy to fulfill her strong sexual impulse. Her gaze can be equally deadly in deciding how to verbally paralyze and annihilate you if you were stupid enough to challenge or insult her. Rita's eyes can also look at you and expertly inspect your soul and brain to fully understand how can she help you if she finds you are troubled. She certainly has the talent and the brains to do just that.
Rita is a Junior School teacher, in a very challenging environment, with a host of truly difficult challenges. From cultural and social integration of immigrant and refugee kids, to working with a helpless, clueless and at times immoral teaching
staff, some backward and ignorant parents, promiscuous or messy sexual encounters with colleagues and even the father of a student, experimenting with homosexuality and finding the right way to come out of the closet at a very young age, the series has it all. The use of the school's washrooms, offices, and classrooms, or a backseat of a car used for spontaneous erotic romps, is at times shocking, but so much part or Rita's flawed but charming and definitely positive personality
If you are expecting a light soap opera with simple, predictable, friendly, wholesome characters bicycling on the trails of a small prosperous and picturesque Nordic country, having ethnic breakfasts with tasteful coffee and Danish pastries, reading stories of Hans Christian Andersen, and consuming, for a change and not so secretly colorful pornography, you won't find much of that. We learn that the Danish social landscape is about as messy and with about the same amount of problems and stupid people, like anywhere else.
Still, the high entertainment value and the visual and listening pleasure of watching this spellbinding series comes mostly from Rita herself.
The complete abandonment of any kind of political correctness comes as of breath of fresh air for the viewers who have been blushing for decades for the wrong reasons, dictated by a long, merciless and successful brainwashing.
Rita's heavy smoking, drinking, and her spontaneous sexual exuberance ("I'm very horny, I need to screw now") is blended so credibly with her extraordinary love and support of her students, talent for teaching and pure compassion for humans in trouble.
Rita exits this long and intense episode of her life, by trading her career (not necessarily her future) for a totally unexpected but selfless cause, and she does it smiling, dignified and with her right arm and middle finger up, high up.
I loved the series, I loved Rita and I hope you will too.
George Kun
Návrat idiota (1999)
A disappointment
I am not Czech, but I am an almost native speaker of the Czech language. I lived in Prague for 10 years, and I am very familiar with and a lover of the Czech cinematography. I have seen literally hundreds of Czech movies, from very serious ones to cartoons. I am also very familiar with the Czech spirit, culture and humor. Enough about my credentials. I am very happy for the reviewers of this movie who found in it subtlety, originality, creativity, messages, etc. I did not. I profoundly disliked it. It's drab and slow, and boring. can still live with it if there is a better and stronger plot, more intelligent dialogue from people who are not "idiots". It looked to me that Frantisek was clearly emotionally hurt and mentally confused, but the real hospice was the place he came to, not the one he left from. Including the people. It's almost a challenge to distinguish him from his remote family, other than him talking less and slower. I understand that the movie budget was based on pocket change of Czech korunas and not truckloads of US dollars, that would have put some more color, and other background into the picture. And of course better sound and music, maybe less nose blood, too. I have seen much better Czech movies that did not get any nominations, and I have seen Italian, Spanish, German and French movies addressing very serious and grave human issue but with a more colorful background. It is true, though, that most Czech places looked like in the movie, in the 50's and 60' on a rainy and cold November day.Most importantly very serious movie on a very delicate subject doers not have to be mutually exclusive with being pleasing to the senses. And this movie is not.