I had the feeling that the director of this film wanted to tell the story on some larger scale to try and attain some sort of epic level but the best moments come when the two lead actors simply establish a loving relationship. Story takes place in the early 1940's where we see Eliska (Anna Geislerova) who's a medical student in Prague and one of her patients is Joza (Gyorgy Cserhalmi) who's a simple older man from a small Czech village called Zelary. Eliska helps some of the doctors in the resistance against the Germans but she learns that the Gestapo has caught most of them and now want her so she must now leave and hide someplace.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Eliska is sent to live with Joza and she assumes the identity of Hana but once she arrives in Zelary she finds it difficult to assimilate with a much more simple life. Eliska/Hana is a city girl and doesn't know how to fit in and many of the locals figure out that she's not there because of her fondness for Joza but that she must be in trouble. She agrees to marry Joza to make things right and keep everything quiet but like the others in the village she gets caught in the middle of domestic disputes involving drunken husbands abusing their wives and at one point she herself is almost raped. But even during all that she and Joza do establish a loving relationship and she develops a strong presence in the area and eventually earning respect by everyone. But the irony comes from the fact that with the thought that the Germans could walk in at any moment looming over them it's the Russian soldiers as Liberators that become the real threat.
This film is directed by Ondrej Trojan who is making his second film and he shows good skill in showing the everyday life in this small area from character development to making sure the audience gets a good understanding of all the locales. As the film unfolds the audience along with Eliska becomes acquainted with the people she meets and the area itself and when the film ends we pretty much know every corner of that village. The performances of the two leads are the main reason I'm recommending this film and Geislerova shows the same strength and screen presence of Juliane Kohler. In his mostly quiet and simple manner Cserhalmi gives you the feeling that he's a much more compelling figure than he lets on and together these two have real screen chemistry that for the most part make the film work. But this film seems to want to reach out and become more than what it should be and the script gives us countless scenarios of drunken abuse towards woman and attempted rape and when we see what develops with the Russian soldiers I almost started to roll my eyes. The film works when it deals with much more simpler matters and it is an intriguing story to watch despite the fact that the script gives the audience to many unnecessary sidetrips.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Eliska is sent to live with Joza and she assumes the identity of Hana but once she arrives in Zelary she finds it difficult to assimilate with a much more simple life. Eliska/Hana is a city girl and doesn't know how to fit in and many of the locals figure out that she's not there because of her fondness for Joza but that she must be in trouble. She agrees to marry Joza to make things right and keep everything quiet but like the others in the village she gets caught in the middle of domestic disputes involving drunken husbands abusing their wives and at one point she herself is almost raped. But even during all that she and Joza do establish a loving relationship and she develops a strong presence in the area and eventually earning respect by everyone. But the irony comes from the fact that with the thought that the Germans could walk in at any moment looming over them it's the Russian soldiers as Liberators that become the real threat.
This film is directed by Ondrej Trojan who is making his second film and he shows good skill in showing the everyday life in this small area from character development to making sure the audience gets a good understanding of all the locales. As the film unfolds the audience along with Eliska becomes acquainted with the people she meets and the area itself and when the film ends we pretty much know every corner of that village. The performances of the two leads are the main reason I'm recommending this film and Geislerova shows the same strength and screen presence of Juliane Kohler. In his mostly quiet and simple manner Cserhalmi gives you the feeling that he's a much more compelling figure than he lets on and together these two have real screen chemistry that for the most part make the film work. But this film seems to want to reach out and become more than what it should be and the script gives us countless scenarios of drunken abuse towards woman and attempted rape and when we see what develops with the Russian soldiers I almost started to roll my eyes. The film works when it deals with much more simpler matters and it is an intriguing story to watch despite the fact that the script gives the audience to many unnecessary sidetrips.