Saturnin

Thanks to a well-crafted screenplay filled with sharp and sophisticated dialogues, combined with straightforward directing and excellent casting, the film successfully captures the essence of the conservative society of the 1930s. It's unfortunate that director Věrčák's 97-minute meandering on the edge between a minimalist feature film and a dry Sunday evening TV production tarnishes the film's formal execution. If the director had pushed a bit further on the production aspects, his work could have been a brilliant blend of old-fashioned upper-class humor. In the case of this film, it is the actors who save it, and I have no objections in that regard. Particularly Oldřich Vízner delivers a masterful performance, and his all-knowing commentary can entertain even the most cynical lover of television variety shows. Here only a cynical expert familiar with Jirotka's book can search for errors. I am not such a person, but I will certainly join their ranks in the near future. (27.12.2005)

Jirotkas Original gehörte lange Zeit zu meinen Favoriten, und ich muss zugeben, dass der trockene englische Humor im Buch viel besser funktioniert als in der Verfilmung. Der Film hat zwar das richtige Zeitgefühl, aber manchmal würde ich fast sagen, dass der Text von Schauspielern nicht allzu gut gesprochen werden kann, und das Ergebnis ist eine etwas überzogene und affektierte Komödie, die den unnachahmlichen trockenen Charme der Buchvorlage verliert. (12.12.2005)

I don’t know why Saturnin isn’t talked about more. Each scene came with a catchphrase. And on top of that the beautiful, kind humor, which I miss a lot in contemporary Czech films. Intelligent, unobtrusive, fun. Near the end, you could however see that it’s easy for viewers to get too much of it so I was glad for an equally unobtrusive conclusion. (24.02.2018)

Apart from Vízner in the central role, I’m not particularly happy with the cast. Which might not matter if they had at retained at least the spirit of the original novel. In that respect the screenwriter totally failed. The overall impression isn’t improved by the technical quality that looked like a rather cheap TV production. Saturnín isn’t a bad picture at all, but it’s just too mediocre and unworthy of the original. Nothing more and nothing less. (17.08.2007)

One of the best comedies of the last 20 years, if not the best. It’s a beautiful example that shows that we Czechs are still capable of producing quality entertainment, we just need the right people to take charge and have the right material at hand. With Saturnin, it was basically impossible to go wrong. It’s an excellently acted film, and some of the lines have already become popular sayings. This is simply something you can't go wrong with, whether it's a book, a film, or even a theater performance. The humor is presented not as rural slapstick, but as a symphony. (06.01.2014)