The film is a worthy follow-up (or residue?) of the golden age of Czechoslovak cinema - the sixties. Quirky poetics infiltrates the reality of an adolescent love story between a postman and a Roma (Gypsy) girl in a small Slovak town. We also can consider it the opposite way - quirky reality infiltrates the poetics, since the scenes of the lovers' life together, after they escaped to the city, are a complete antithesis to their idealized relationship back home. The following is a possible SPOILER!!!, but it hardly matters in a lyrical film like this. It is the boldness of the director and the screenwriter that makes this film so great: the two romantically longing teens are actually given the opportunity to live together and share the mundane problems of finding work and a place to live, before they find out that their relationship cannot bear the burden of every-day life. The warm and charming film thus gets some tragic overtones towards the end, but our heroes cope quite well, unlike the young Werther... The portrayal of different lifestyles of Gypsies and gadjos (non-gypsies) is noteworthy in its realism - there does not seem to be an easy solution to that problem. In summary, Ruzove sny (1976) is a hidden gem of a film that deserves better - to my knowledge, it is not available on video even in its country of origin.
2 Reviews
'Ruzové sny' is a fascinatingly kaleidoscopic view of joyfully tumultuous young love, both sentimental and searingly honest.
Weirdling_Wolf26 April 2021
While there have been a great number of engaging coming-of-age dramas, each providing its own unique take on that most fervid eruption of emotional tumult, all too few have the luminous charm, intense fascination and refined detail of 'Ruzové sny'. Set against the beauteous, faintly oppressive bucolic backdrop of intimately observed village life, Dusan Hanák's inspired, beautifully photographed, emotionally wrenching drama is among the finest ever made. Enveloping you warmly in a captivating stream of sublime consciousness, very few films can match this passionate, profoundly moving account of burgeoning adolescent love.
Jakub (Juraj Nvotna) is the bicicle-zooming village postman, a likeable lad who appears to be deeply embedded in the myriad comings and goings in the close-knit hamlet. Taking errant pot shots at pot-destined poultry, giving enthusiastic piggyback rides to his beloved octogenarian auntie, Jakub's sun-dappled, seemingly charmed life reaches an unprecedented existential crisis when he falls for the beautiful young gypsy girl, Jolanka (Iva Bittová). A doomed, bittersweet romance, since both of their families aggressively oppose their relationship. Sadly, Jakub & Jolanka's earnest love for one another becomes tinged with tragedy, as class prejudice, familial squabbles and threats of violence corrupt the innocent lover's bliss. Dusan's elegiac, humane, emotionally honest love story reaching a uniquely heartfelt and dramatically rewarding climax.
It would be a great disservice to gifted filmmaker, Dusan and his extraordinary film to liken it to another. 'Ruzové sny' aka 'Rose Tinted Dreams' is a unique, perpetually effervescing delight, expressing a richly beguiling character all of its own. The film's lively idiosyncratic qualities are no small testament to the remarkable talents of the uncommonly gifted crew and truly delightful cast of natural, wholly unaffected actors. Without wishing to sound trite, 'Ruzové sny' remains a profoundly compelling, kaleidoscopic view of joyfully tumultuous young love, both sentimental and searingly honest, giving the enraptured viewer the edifying sensation of having just witnessed something entirely magical.
Jakub (Juraj Nvotna) is the bicicle-zooming village postman, a likeable lad who appears to be deeply embedded in the myriad comings and goings in the close-knit hamlet. Taking errant pot shots at pot-destined poultry, giving enthusiastic piggyback rides to his beloved octogenarian auntie, Jakub's sun-dappled, seemingly charmed life reaches an unprecedented existential crisis when he falls for the beautiful young gypsy girl, Jolanka (Iva Bittová). A doomed, bittersweet romance, since both of their families aggressively oppose their relationship. Sadly, Jakub & Jolanka's earnest love for one another becomes tinged with tragedy, as class prejudice, familial squabbles and threats of violence corrupt the innocent lover's bliss. Dusan's elegiac, humane, emotionally honest love story reaching a uniquely heartfelt and dramatically rewarding climax.
It would be a great disservice to gifted filmmaker, Dusan and his extraordinary film to liken it to another. 'Ruzové sny' aka 'Rose Tinted Dreams' is a unique, perpetually effervescing delight, expressing a richly beguiling character all of its own. The film's lively idiosyncratic qualities are no small testament to the remarkable talents of the uncommonly gifted crew and truly delightful cast of natural, wholly unaffected actors. Without wishing to sound trite, 'Ruzové sny' remains a profoundly compelling, kaleidoscopic view of joyfully tumultuous young love, both sentimental and searingly honest, giving the enraptured viewer the edifying sensation of having just witnessed something entirely magical.
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