Autumn Spring

Kind, pleasant... I find it almost impossible to believe that this felt and experienced direction is the work of the same person responsible for the self-serving Angel Exit. Michálek, with his exemplary work as a strategist and inconspicuous storyteller, gave space for a riveting concert by Stella Zázvorková and Vlastimil Brodský, for whom the film became a will and a kind of final farewell. That's how the real masters say goodbye... Even without the breath of modernity and experimentation, Autumn Spring is one of the gems of post-revolutionary cinema and one of the greatest delicacies of Czech production. (2004-11-11)

Although Brodsky's character's behaviour sometimes goes to the point of recklessness towards those closest to him, most of the time I was rooting for him because of his healthy approach to old age, free of any lamentations over death certificates and constant complaining about illnesses of all kinds with his peers. This film is a really nice epitaph to Mr. Brodsky. It has been my pleasure, Sir, all my life so far. (2006-01-05)

A very nice final performance by Vlastimil Brodský. With a story as wacky as this one, the result couldn’t have been different. With the second half of the movie you can clearly see how hard our significant other can affect us and how much we’re able to get isolated in ourselves afterwards. But in the end, the ending was good, so all was well. Autumn Spring contains a beautiful story-telling magic and it presents the fact that you can live your life to the fullest regardless of how old you are. All it takes is not giving up. (2016-11-01)

Autumn Spring is all the sadder when you consider that Vlastimil Brodsky killed himself less than a year after the film was released. It is as if Vladimír Michálek's film was a harbinger of the inevitable future. Autumn Spring benefits especially from the leading trio of Brodský, Stella Zázvorková and Stanislav Zindulka, who really put their hearts into their characters and offered believable and sober performances. The film depicts in a sad but endearing way the ways in which one can deal with ageing and the approaching end - one can give up before death, or slowly prepare for it, or pretend as if ending is out of the question. A touching and human film! (2023-03-20)