Horem pádem (2004)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Jan Hrebejk

Writers:

Jan Hrebejk (writer)
Petr Jarchovský (writer)

Release Date:

16 September 2004 (Czech Republic)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A comedy that makes you cry. A drama that makes you laugh.

Plot:

The discovery of an abandoned child by two smugglers kicks into a gear a series of tragic, comic events. |

Awards:

5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Petr Forman	...	Martin Horecký
Emília Vásáryová	...	Vera Horecká
Jirí Machácek	...	Frantisek Fikes
Natasa Burger	...	Miluska
Jan Triska	...	Professor Otakar Horecký (as Jan Tríska)
Ingrid Timková	...	Hana Svobodová
Kristýna Boková	...	Lenka Horecká (as Kristýna Liska-Boková)
Pavel Liska	...	Eman
Marek Daniel	...	Lubos
Jan Budar	...	Milan
Zdenek Suchý	...	Goran
Jaroslav Dusek	...	Colonel
Martin Huba	...	Doctor
Hynek Schneider	...	Majitel Barazu
Jirina Trebická	...	Jeno Matka

Also Known As:

Up and Down (International: English title) (USA)
Loop the Loop (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexual content and brief violence.

Runtime:

Czech Republic:108 min

Country:

Czech Republic

Language:

Czech | English | German | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Czech Republic:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Ceská Televize

The Czech master turns in another masterpiece...

This was probably the best film shown at the Vancouver International Film Festival, from a filmmaker I greatly admire. A complex, utterly compelling, completely accurate snapshot of contemporary Czech society, it has several story lines that converge at different points. The social fabric of a country dealing with rapid and enormous political, social,and economic change is stretched to tearing point as borne out by a sleazy pair of people smugglers and the various low-life petty criminals with whom they work; a university professor, his embittered wife and estranged adult son, and his long-term decades-younger mistress, who was the son's girlfriend at one time; a not-too-bright security guard—-a man who channels all his pent-up rage and frustration into brawls at soccer matches—-and his wife who has become mentally unhinged by her craving for a baby. Hrebejk has the stories intersect in an unforced manner, and examines the scourges of a society in the throes of rampant change: unemployment, corruption, crime, racism, unwanted immigrants, old-timers unwilling to come to terms with the new order, and the increasing divide between the rich and the poor. His bemused eye watches unflinchingly when some of his educated characters spew racist bile, or when the inarticulate white supremacist security guard is gentleness personified while caring for the brown baby that his barren wife buys with their life savings. Displaying his usual fine understanding of human nature, he demonstrates that no person is all good or all evil; even his most despicable characters perform uncharacteristic kind acts. With some laugh-out-loud scenes of sophisticated black humor on offer, this is social satire of the highest order.