Kolya
by Jan Sver?k
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DVD details
Actor: Andrei Chalimon, Libuse Safr?nkov?, Ondrej Vetch?, Stella Z?zvorkov?, Zdenek Sver?kDirector: Jan Sver?k
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Czech (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-07-02
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax
DVD Reviews of Kolya
DVD Review: Time Well Spent
Summary: 4 Stars
I wasn't too sure what to expect from "Kolya" since the synopsis I read was rather misleading. For that I'm grateful because everything that emerged was a pleasant surprize. I should just stop there and let it be a surprize for you, too. However, let me just say that this is a sophisticated and well-done version of a theme that is usually done with more slapstick and "juvenile" humor. It's not that those other movies were bad; it's just that we seem to keep getting a different version of the same thing substituting different stars to attract different audiences. I recall a movie I saw as a child that starred Clifton Webb. I think it was entitled "Sitting Pretty" and it, too, seemed to have a slightly more sophisticated version but "Kolya" is a film that stands alone.
Synopsis aside, "Kolya" is also worthwhile on other levels. I enjoyed the Czech perspective of Soviet occupation. I was interested in the animosity between the two groups. I also found it interesting that the director kept pushing the idea that socialism was good but not when imposed by a foregn invader. There was a lot of excellent music and cinematography and a story that left us with a sense that we had watched something worthwhile.
DVD Review: Hindsight bias
Summary: 3 Stars
This is indeed a charming and a touching story. Other reviewers have covered the plot quite well. I do believe that the characters in the movie are good and acting is quite good as well. Movies like this are uplifting and give person quite a good feeling and offer some hope. In real life people indeed do change, can set aside selfishness and are able to care for one another.
What I did not care for so much in the movie were the scenes that were written for the Hollywood audience. The "prophecy" of sending communists to a reservation in Albania, or holing up in the apartment like the allied pilots shot down during WWII, the list goes on. These were not only Hollywoodized, but also presented some obvious hindsight bias that was all too obvious to me as I, like Sverak, grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia.
With that said, the movie is worth watching and I would recommend it.
DVD Review: Go Louka...
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a Czech foreign language film set in Prague in the late 80's. The lead actor, Frantisek Louka, is in his 50's and is an accomplished symphony cellist. He gets booted off the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (for some unstated reason) - he struggles to make ends meet and pay his debts by playing music at funerals and restoring gold-leaf on weathered tombstones. Louka has never been married. In between his part time day jobs, Louka, a charmer, chases married women and cares for his aging Mother. He is determined to buy a car (a Trabant) but struggles to find the resources to do so - that is, until a friend comes up with a scheme to marry a divorced and beautiful, young Russian woman who is looking to get Czech papers. After significant reservations, Louka agrees to the scam so he can buy his car and pay off his debts. No sooner are they married - the woman bolts leaving him to care for her 5 year son.
The film lightly touches on the Russian occupation of the country and its impact on the populace. There are some terrific scenes of when the boy lights up when he sees the Russian military officers and their equipment - and Louka's Mother's reaction who despises the Russians.
The charm of this movie is the relationship that develops between Louka, a most reluctant father, and an adorable Russian boy. Louka comes to care and love the boy and his life is altered from his former selfish and self-centered ways. Louka is the main attraction and star in this film - playing a gruff, self-centered, talented musician trying to find his way. I also enjoyed the music and the cinematography in this film.
DVD Review: A Colossal Disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
After 35 minutes, I told my wife that, except for the scenery and the music, this could be a Hollywood movie. It tries to evolve beyond that, and it's watchable enough, but it never reaches the ranks of being memorable, much less literature. Once it reaches the requisite length, it introduces a political event that I guess we can't call "deus ex machina" because it actually happened. But that's how they end the story and go home. But in the end, we've got crusty codger, cute kid, bonding, blah blah blah. I know the Czechs have better movies. Why aren't we seeing them? It's a sad day when any European nation neglects its rich cultural heritage to try copying the literary equivalent of Big Macs.DVD Review: Charming In Substantive Way (not cute or silly)
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a sensationally good movie.
Sorry to say, but that little Kolya boy has more substance and aesthetic sense than most Americans (and I am a native born American, so I'm allowed to say that -- one good thing about America).
The movie is charming. But it also shows how there is a whole world out there wherein there is appreciation for, and the living out of, aesthetics and substance.
There is culture and cultural distinction (Czeck -vs- Russian) aplenty in the movie.
As a bonus, if you are trying to learn Russian, the little-boy enunciation of Kolya is, for some reason, far easier than an adult's speech for a Russian-as-a-foreign-language listener.
In truth I just got the DVD but I've watched it on my LaserVideoDisc (the old 12" analog video disc).
Description of Kolya
Winner of the Academy Award(R) and Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film, this irresistible comedy treat was embraced by critics and audiences everywhere! A confirmed bachelor is in for the surprise of his life when a get-rich-quick scheme backfires ... setting off a wild set of circumstances -- and leaving him with a pint-sized new roommate! Now, with a mischievous five-year-old named Kolya suddenly in his care ... life in this once carefree playboy's tiny apartment changes faster than he could ever imagine! Uplifting and endlessly funny, KOLYA is delightful motion picture entertainment you'll want to take home!Winner of the 1997 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, this charming Czech drama uses the backdrop of the Russian military occupation in Prague for its funny, sad, and ultimately delightful story of a 55-year-old man's friendship with a 5-year-old boy. It doesn't exactly start out as friendship: Louka is a cellist who lost his symphony job after writing a sarcastic remark on an official form, and although he's struggling financially he still enjoys the company of several young women who find him irresistibly sexy. The last thing he needs is a surrogate child, but that's what he gets when young Kolya is abandoned by his mother, a Russian woman Louka had agreed to marry so she could avoid being sent back to Russia. The mother runs off to her boyfriend in Germany, leaving Louka with a 5-year-old kid who only speaks Russian! As directed by Jan Sver?k (whose father, Zdenek Sver?k, plays Louka), this predicament offers a lovingly detailed account of how Louka and Kolya discover each other, and how their mutual awkwardness evolves into a heartwarming father-son relationship. While the Russian presence creates an atmosphere of suspicion and restriction, the deepening connection between Louka and Kolya turns this into an unforgettable film, beautifully photographed, sensitively performed, and directed with just the right combination of subtle sentiment and harsh reality. Its Oscar was definitely well deserved. --Jeff Shannon
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