Change Your Image
rangus02
Reviews
Stuj, nebo se netrefím (1998)
Feydeau, with a Czech accent
I don't know when I've laughed so often or so loud as I did while watching this flick for the first time. Even without English subtitles (and I don't speak Czech) I was in stitches practically from the beginning. It is, of course, even funnier WITH subtitles. A sort of Feydeau farce with a Czech accent, in which the principals are forever hopping into and out of each others' clothes in frantic efforts to hide their identities in the closing days of World War II as a small band of Germans struggles to make it back to the Fatherland before they are shot by Czech patriots---including some collaborators trying to pass themselves off as patriots. It's really great fun, beautifully acted, photographed and directed.
Prodaná nevesta (1976)
Mistake
attn.: editor I think there is an error here. The Barrandov studios in Prague made a film version in 1975 with a singing cast (the actors were members of the Barrandov roster) drawn mainly from the National Theatre. The Metropolitan Opera version which features the cast you list for this entry was telecast in 1978. And for the record, Barrandov filmed an earlier version, in 1933. There also is the 1932 German film which starred Jarmila Novotna. My personal preference is for the 1975 Barrandov film, which was shot on location in the southern Bohemian town of Holasovice. all told, Barrandov filmed three operas virtually complete in the postwar years: Smetana's Dalibor and Dvorak's Rusalka (which has Mrs. Vaclav Havel in a brief non-singing role).
Der Rosenkavalier (1949)
An important message marred by an imperfect medium
I saw this on a flickering 12-inch screen at a friend's house when it was initially broadcast, more than half a century ago. I was 16 at the time, and this was one of my first encounters with the opera itself and the little black box. Consequently, I know more about both now than I did then. After sitting through more than four hours of it, I was bored to tears, blissfully unaware of what a treat the audience at the Old Met was getting, both sonically and visually---how brilliant Richard Strauss' use of the orchestra and the skill and beauty of the soloists. The tinny speaker in the TV could no more do justice to that magnificent score than the flickering tube could do for the spectacle taking place on the stage. What I saw was shadows flickering across a tiny stage and what I heard was only the baldest impression of a magnificent score. I'd really love to see a decent print of that production today, digitally enhanced and reproduced on a large modern screen to find out how my perceptions and tastes have changed in the meantime. I do remember that di Stefano, Berger, Peters and Stevens were at the peak of their form that night
Our Girl Friday (1953)
unbelievable waste of talent
It's hard to believe that such acting and comedic talents as Robertson Hare, George Cole, Kenneth More, Hattie Jacques and Hermione Gingold could combine to make a movie as bad as this. It's Gilligan's Island with a British accent, but without a hint of comedic writing or direction. I can't think of a witty line or even a good bit of slapstick anywhere in it; its sole redeeming feature seems to be a very young Joan Collins modeling a bikini and an evening gown. They've all grown so tedious by the end of the film that I found myself actually looking forward to the closing credits. The musical score and direction are on a par with the script.