Wild Flowers

Like the guy from Alaska, I just came back from Europe this winter vacation, and in my stay at Prague I saw this movie. I had been seeing movies in all the countries I visited just to get a feel for their cinema (these are all non-subtitled foreign films i couldnt understand a word of), Schule in Germany, MeseAuto in Hungary, Billy Elliot in Austria and this.

This film was extraodinary. The interestin thing is that we never understood any of the other movies and just had to figure things out from the visuals, like watching TV on mute. But this movie had very little dialogue anyway, so it didnt matter. I found myself overwhelmed by the cinematography. It reminded me a lot of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams.

As far as I know, there was a famous poet who wrote 15 short stories, and this film is 7 of them (complete with 7 candles that one by one get blown out before each story). I'm not sure, but I took this to be a little like the movie Seven, where each candle, and thus, each story, represents one of the seven deadly sins. But because there were 15 stories in all, I'm not sure how well this theory holds up.

This is an incredible movie to try to pick apart. THere is so much symbolism and there is no language barrier. If you ever make it to the Czech Republic or Prague, specifically, check this movie out.

F.A. Brabec did an amazing job of directing "Kytice" (wildflowers), which is based on the book "the Seven Ballads". I'm not familiar with the novel, but I must say that the seven Czech fairy tales within the film are extremely nightmarish. These are not fairy tales to read to children before bedtime. One tale concerns an underwater spirit, who takes women captive as wives, if they happen to fall in the water. Another has a girl praying for her boyfriend to return from the dead. He returns in soldier uniform and gives her the power to fly every time she denounces her religious faith. The stories teach bizarre moral lessons, and people end up paying for their bad choices. The cinematography is gorgeous, and should be studied by film students everywhere. The movie is dark, but very moving and filled with colorful life. Jakubisko's art direction is amazing. (he helped produce the film along with his wife) The soundtrack is haunting and will stay with you long after the film is over. In fact I ended up buying the soundtrack, and it is excellent. "Kytice" reminds me of Kurasawa's "Dreams", "Big Fish" and "Valerie and her Week of Wonders" all rolled into one bizarre dream. The Czech Republic is a country thats film industry remains undiscovered by western audiences. I have yet to watch a Czech film that I didn't like. For more dark unsettling Czech folk lore also view Jakubisko's "An Ambiguous Report about the end of the World".

Kytice (The Bouquet or Garland) is an exquisitely beautiful compendium of Czech fairy tales in an mature mode. These is not fairy tales ala Disney. Rather this is 'Marchen', the serious mythopoeic stuff. These are fairy tales with a very dark brooding Eastern European flavour. I happened to fall upon this by accident in Prague in December of 2000. I did not understand the dialogue since I do not speak Czech. But then again I really didn't need to. The images were absolutely stunning. The film is a collection of seven stories loosely bolted together with an over riding theme. Visually I was reminded on "A Company of Wolves" or even "Immoral Tales", the blending of the genuinely erotic with a very dark undercurrent of death and fate were however quite beautiful. The stunning visuals did not need American special effects (and predictability) to convey absolutely unforgettable images. I recommend this with the highest and richest enthusiasm. Hunt this down. On a trip to Europe if need be. And, if you can, bother some distributors to translate this and get it out to the English speaking world.

I won't spoil the plot anymore... you must see it for your self.

Gulag.

This movie is superb! It is a great way to learn more about Czech and Slavic culture.I strongly recommend to read the book first, to get some idea what it is about. The movie itself gives useful hints how to interpret the ballads in the book. Some hints are really unexpected and may change your interpretation crucially. For instance the portrayal of the water spirit. It is breath-taking! Various bright and dim colors back up the overall mood and create amazing atmosphere. Some horror and/or thriller-like elements are used, making the overall impression stronger. It is not an easy movie at all. The life portrayed in the movie and our present day life have a lot of common features, too.

This movie is based on Czech ballads from the 19th century, and it shows. There are seven stories told in this movie, and all of them are incredibly beautiful. The film might seem a bit scattered and incoherent the fist twenty minutes, because it does not follow the ordinary storytelling that we are used to in Hollywood productions. Nevertheless, after the first story, the film makes more and more sense. It is SO beautiful. The imagery is so unreal, so exquisite, that I have a hard time describing it. If you get the chance, see it.