Cutting it Short

I love Menzel movies and this one is my favorite of all of them. Even it's into my ten favorite movies of all time, like The Godfather, Blade Runner, The man who shot Liberty Valance, Amarcord or La vida en un hilo. It's poetical, romantic, erotic and funny. A kind of humor that moves from intelligent talk to the purely slapstick, but always in a universal way, that everybody can appreciate and enjoy.It's a movie that tries to make you feel how pretty are love and life, and if you let your senses and soul go into the story, when the movie finishes you can feel yourself better than at the beginning. Enjoy this movie so you'll enjoy life...and beer.

A wonderful Czech classic that can be seen over and over! In my opinion, this is a film that is best understood if you are a native Czech, appreciate Czech humor and character, and like Bohumil Hrabal's "tender barbarian" style of writing. It is not so much a movie about a local brewery director, his wife and their life in the brewery that strives to be an utterly funny comedy, as it is a lovely view of Hrabal's parents, his unique uncle Pepin, and the times of "cutting it short", that brings a smile to your face and keeps it there for the duration of the film. I can understand that Postriziny can be very hard for non-Czech viewers to appreciate.

This is the only film that makes me salivate. Yes, for a glass of Czech beer, a plate of pork and the beautiful Magda Vášáryová. It's a fond look at the lives of writer Bohumil Hrabal's parents in pre-war Czechoslovakia — father a put-upon brewery manager, mother sensual and flirtatious — and his eccentric, Švejk-like Uncle Pepin, who arrives uninvited and doesn't leave.

There's a lot of smiling and larking about, in and around the small-town brewery that was their home, and even those suffering injuries as a result seem to laugh at them. Utopian and nostalgic maybe, but why not? Nowadays we'd call it "feelgood". And that horse pissing — unscripted, surely (!) but the actors cope and director Jiří Menzel leaves it in to add to the mayhem.

I read the book years ago, but didn't realise until much later that Menzel had filmed it: what joy! Hrabal's breathless prose style is probably impossible to capture on screen, but the essence of the short story is not. In Menzel's loving hands the result is such a beautiful film, tender, whimsical, joyful, sensual, life-enhancing. I'd say that Postřižiny is definitely on a par with his better-known Ostře Sledované Vlaky (Closely Observed Trains), perhaps even superior as it benefits from more modern production quality, and colour. Such a shame it is not better known in the west — definitely our loss! But the Czech DVD has fairly good English subtitles for those unfortunates like myself who cannot speak the language, so now there is no excuse for not seeking out this gem.

Incidentally, Hrabal grew up in the brewery at Nymburk, east of Prague, but the film was actually shot at the Dalešice brewery further south in Moravia. Was the chimney there as tall, I wonder...?

And not only for Easterners. Of course, it is clearly not the cheap and easy humour you can face in that kind of slapstick silly comedies from Hollywood nowadays.

As many times in the tandem Hrabal/Menzel, the film exudes sense of humour, "joie de vivre" and natural acting. Characters are full of charm, flesh and blood, and life... yes, Central European life after WWI (some visits to the area are still a good help in order to take better understanding... but be careful because later the understanding becomes LOVE forever, I can assure)

Just waiting the next one by Menzel, based on another classic by Bohumil Hrabal: I served the King of England.

Personal note: I have been in love with Maryska (literary homage by Hrabal to his mother)since the blessed day I read the first lines in the book... some years ago.

I agree with most of the comments above. This movie is an absolute gem. The CZ communist regime, however harsh and unfriendly towards many artists - including Hrabal and Menzel, was quite supportive to the film industry and the film directors had state grants for their work and advisory boards consisting of educated people evaluating every new movie to be made. Also there was no pressure to make the movies commercially successful as you can see now, and that is how communists actually helped to create the Czech Wave of great movies in 60's and later....I just read an interview with Menzel where he talks of this and compares the situation of before 1989 and now....Hrabal certainly was a genius, I remember that even Kundera said that Hrabal was just a talent by god that he was above all Czech writers of his time....cant agree that he is not known in western Europe, I met some people in France who approached me in a street when they saw that I am reading his novel and started to talk of their love for Hrabal. Also some Canadians whom I know here in London mentioned this movie to me several times by themselves, they just could not remember the name, only the characters :))....Cant wait to see the "English King" in the movies, Menzel says that it took him over a year to work on the screenplay and seems to be aware of the magnitude of the work....unfortunately now when Hrabal is dead he cant assist Menzel with the work as he did before...well, we'll see...