Cosy Dens

Prague in 1968 prior to the Soviet invasion. The setting is ideal for a political drama, but Czech artists prefer to make a comedy with political background. The action takes place in a house, where families from different political camps (pro-communist vs. anti-communist) live together. The story is told in such a warm, witty and funny way that it immediately resembles the golden years of Czech movie industry in the 70's and 80's. This movie was a tremendous hit on the local Czech market, unfortunately it has never reached my country (Poland). I've had a chance to see it only on the Warsaw Film Festival. It's sad but all the time distributors prefer to show s****y Hollywood cheesy-style romances or action packs, instead real-value movies. Definitely one of the movies of 1999 IMHO. The same goes for other Czech movie - "Return of the Idiot" (Navrat Idiota) - watch out for Czechs, they are on the right track again.

A beautifully understated story of ordinary people living their everyday lives through the trying times of Christmas '67 and the Prague Spring during the run up to the Soviet invasion. While the setting has be caught with stark and depressing realism, the film is perfectly balanced with a gently comic and bittersweet observation of the families and their relationships as they struggle through events from the mundane to the tragic. Personal loss, both of freedom and of loved ones, and the way life still manages to go on has been captured with deceptive ease and without resorting to the usual cliches and predictable attempts at closure that so often seem to pollute western cinema of this type.

Watching this movie at the Wellington International Film Festival, surrounded by emotional ex-patriot Czechs is an experience I will always remember and treasure.

The film details life during the Prague Spring, leading up to the Russian invasion. The humor is very Czech, and splendidly so. The ending reminded me of exactly why the Politician is the lowest form of life on the planet.

Go see this movie wherever and whenever you can.

i saw pelisky in 2000 at the international film festival in aukland, new zealand. almost 5 years later, having only seen the film that one time, i cannot forget how much i loved it. wonderfully funny and tragic, extremely well-acted, by far the best foreign language film in the festival. it was the the highest grossing czech film of the year at the czech box office, third only to titanic and kolya. unfortunately, i'm not sure if it made it into any American theatres and i have not been able to locate a copy since i returned home. if at all possible you get your hands on a copy of pelisky, i promise you will adore this film.

The main issue with this movie is the viewer's knowledge of fairly recent Czech(oslovak) history, namely Prague Spring and subsequent Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. Without this knowledge too much gets lost 'in translation' and I do not believe the movie can be fully enjoyed, understood, and felt.

It is a rich, deep, and extremely well-made movie that will make you laugh out loud as well as cry. It switches so easily and smoothly from deeply sad moments to moments of pure comedy without going over the board and without that Hollywood trademarked kitch-drama. To me, personally, as well as many of my acquaintances, watching this movie is pure joy.

Another one of Pelisky's many 'plusses' is the amazing soundtrack that consists of great Czech music from around the time period that it is trying to depict. Also, performance of all the actors is just about as good as it gets, especially the actors who play father Kraus (Kodet) and his daughter Jindriska, are simply outstanding.

Final advice: First, read up about Prague Spring and Russian invasion, as well as about Czech Christmas traditions and get a Czech friend to watch Pelisky with you and you will definitely not waste your time - it might turn into a completely amazing cultural experience inside your living room. Also, watch it more than one time - there's always something new you'll find - a new joke to laugh at, etc.