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fingon_felagund
Bachelor degrees in Film theory and history and Information studies.
I am willing to watch almost anything... once.
Areas of interest:
Sci-fi, historical/period films, good comedies, CGI animated films.
Czech/Czechoslovak cinema, China (Mainland, HK), Bulgarian historical films
10000 seen films and counting:-P
https://www.csfd.cz/uzivatel/10500-fingon/prehled/
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Cyril and Methodius: The Apostles of the Slavs (2013)
Theatrical cut of a much better TV docudrama, good soundtrack remains
This audiovisual piece exists in two versions: there is the theatrical cut with runtime slightly above 80 minutes and then there is a TV edit, a four-parter 4x 52 minutes in a form of a docudrama. The film is narrated by one of the protagonists, Methodius (Roman Zach), the docudrama adds contemporary narrator with explanatory notes.
Overall I prefer the TV cut because the amount of the material that got edited out is simply horrendous - the first episode of the TV cut gets narrowed down into five minutes of the film, even the Constantin's speeches (that I consider the best written parts of the script) almost disappear in the theatrical cut. TV cut contains much more CGI sequences, that maybe aren't that well made, but some temple interiors are really magnificent.
What rules the both versions is the soundtrack, that often borrows from the liturgical texts in contemporary, but also in archaic Czech. It's too bad that the soundtrack isn't available.
The acting... well, I appreciate the above mentioned Roman Zach, since I remember him mostly from third rate soap operas. Here he gives a really solid performance, rising above his acting colleagues. The honorable mention goes to - for me previously unknown - Kajetán Písařovic (this simply has to an alias, nobody is so cruel to name one's child with such name, and I am saying that as the native speaker) in a position of the main villain, Frankish priest Eiben. He is so incredibly snake-like, especially when he advises the Louis the German while the king takes a bath... though I can't say in his final appearance if he is so fascinated by the flames that destroy the lifelong written work of the both protagonists or if he is shocked by the the consequences of his meddling...
I intend to learn more about the production history of the piece, since the director Petr Nikolaev works mostly on the topics from near or far past, this film being the most far yet (end of ninth century AD). This film could be considered a companion piece to his older project Knights of blood (aka In the Name of the King), which takes place in thirteen century. Both films share similar, one would say, TV-Look, among other things.
Overall, it's not a bad attempt, bud especially the film version is simply lacking...
BTW, considering the poster (and DVD cover) - neither Cyril nor Methodius' faces are shown, the man above them is prince Svatopluk.
Ohnivé zeny (1983)
What happens when the ghosts of burnt witches got the bodies and there is 20th century
Ohnive zeny (literally Fire women) is a trilogy of TV films that consists of "Ohnive zeny" (Fire women), "Ohnive zeny se vraceji" (Fire women return) and finally "Ohnive zeny mezi nami" (Fire women between us). These films have similar beginning, but the rest is different. The plot is simple: two medieval village women Magdalena (Dagmar Veskrnova-Havlova)and Marta (Jana Hlavacova) are burnt at stake for witchcraft, but their lover and friend Janek (Karel Roden) escapes. These two women became ghosts and haunt the place of their death and the dungeon where they were kept before death sentence. For them, it's possible to get a new body once a year, but they succeed only today, in the 1980s. They look like the past owners of the bodies, so the town folks think they're psychiatrist send to town. Magdalena and Marta opens the surgery and heal people with they experience and knowledge of the middle ages - surprisingly, the problems are pretty same nowadays. Then they discover that Janek really survived the trial and the town is filled with his descendants... One of the first films where played Karel Roden.
In part two, ghosts have to find the new bodies - and they get the bodies of antiquities thieves. But Magdalena's new body belongs to a man...
The final part is the worst - television comes to this town to air a local show to celebrate the town founding anniversary and our ghosts takes the bodies of the director and the TV show host...
Poketto monsutâ: Pikachû no natsu-yasumi (1998)
Professor Oak borrows his cabin in the snowy forest to Ash and co. Their Pokémons are confronted with Christmas tree and snowballs...
Quite boring Christmas Pokémon special consist of two parts: In part one, humans go to have fun alone and Pokémons are left to their own. Baby-Pokémon Togepi discovers the open door and room with a Christmas tree. Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Psyduck eventually destroy the whole room and Pikachu is unable to stop them. He finally bursts in anger and shuts the electricity off. Then he discovers a music box with a small Christmas tree; They repair the whole room and when people come back, they start to celebrate.
The second story is located in the forest and features (except the previous) also the Meowth and Kangaskhan mother.