Signál

Short version of my comment: Imagine something that you think is the most disgusting thing in the whole world. And imagine watching it for two hours. That's what you get with Signál.____Longer version of my comment: I should warn you in advance that I will try to use as few bad words as possible. Well, I could actually end there, but then you wouldn't get the main point. Signál is crap. I was sorry to have to say this at first, but it's the plain truth. The main architect of this stinking disaster is the screenwriter Marek Epstein, and the director Tomáš Řehořek is its finisher. They have created an absolutely unfunny, repulsive "comedy" masquerading as a poor imitation that offended me first and foremost by the way the filmmakers imagine the rural population - men in particular as stupid idiots, and as uncivilized morons for whom the word "city" is an unreal concept, and women as easy victims to strangers. The second tragedy is the story. There is none. It was supposed to show human stupidity, but it showed again and again only the incompetence of the filmmakers, who perhaps didn't even know what they were making and for whom. The characters? More shit. Is there a sympathetic character in this film at all? Certainly not from the central pair Dyk and Hádek, certainly not from the inhabitants of Zálesí. I don't know, maybe I just misunderstood the whole thing, but I think Signál is just full of assholes (who people should probably cheer for, since one of them is played by that young and popular singer) and morons, and the only person who could break out of those two boxes, being Jiří Menzel, I didn't care about. By the way, while I'm on the subject of Jiří Menzel... Tomáš Řehořek is probably a fan of his. However, he should realize that by alternating boring "plot" scenes and details of spiders, flies, earthworms, dewy grass and other natural phenomena that surely fascinate him, he will not achieve any "Menzel-like" poetics. Signál is a terribly long and terribly stupid film, and anyone who asks me about it I will discourage from going to the movie theatre, I swear.__P.S. Nightwork's hideous song almost made me leave during the closing credits. But then I'd miss that fabulous conversation with the director and producer. Both were even more futile than their film. And I thought it wasn't even possible anymore. (10.02.2012)

Two con artists head to the countryside. Not to make a quick buck off the stupid locals, but to enjoy themselves with their daughters or wives. In fact, they aren’t even that big of con artists, although their tricks are quite elaborate. As time goes on, they realize they can extract much more than just a little casual sex from this situation. The villagers are initially portrayed as true hicks, but over time it becomes clear that they can defend themselves when it comes to the crunch, though that only takes up about ten minutes of the film. It starts as a con artist film, turns into a dull romance, almost becomes hixploitation (a rural slaughter film), and by the end, it even dips into some sci-fi. By the end, it’s a bit too much in terms of what the film transforms into, and it's somewhat unsatisfactory, just like what preceded it. Vojtěch Dyk initially comes off as a ruthless jerk but fails to maintain this role, perhaps to avoid ruining his image as a nice guy who’s into older women. Kryštof Hádek is supposed to be the sensitive guy, but there’s no room for any romance, as it’s quite well hidden. I find myself wondering what one should actually take away from the film. That there are fools in the countryside who can get really angry? That city folks are also fools but can escape in time with the help of a kind villager? I don’t know; there’s no miracle here, and the script by Marek Epstein certainly doesn’t surprise in any way, except perhaps for managing to attract Jiří Menzel as an actor. (27.02.2013)

I don’t understand why people hate this movie. I do admit that there could have been a little less of Dyk. Maybe at least the Nightwork music didn’t have to play in the pub all the time, and the ending didn’t have to be accompanied by the disgusting song he sang, and which had nothing to do with the atmosphere of the film. Other than that, however, in terms of story it was an interesting Czech film, which in my opinion was not completely badly made. I’m used to such a camera and it was possible to get over the shaking. Even the actors surprised me, Jiří Menzel the most, but Karel Roden was also great. All in all, I have to say that the acting repertoire was like from another world, and I really enjoyed the village. When we talk about the village, it seems located in the third world, and I’d say the authors went too far with the ruralness, and the same goes for the way they portrayed people from Prague. You can find crooks like that in every corner of our country, not just in Prague, so we shouldn’t discriminate like that. On the other hand, this movie remains an interesting affair from which I expected a far worse quality than what I actually got. (29.12.2012)

Muddy neo-normalizing satire, in which the disgusting rural touch of Grapes mixes with the taste of Gogol, in which an idiot is really just an idiot and stinking boots from Láda Stroupežnický (we really went a long way from the loudmouths, but unfortunately ass first). I would slap people for the character of the "true Czech genius", who already knows that there is nothing that can be done but to piss on the monument to the builders... With every further thought, this film awakens in me a deep feeling of moral disgust and contempt (I don't know why I give it so many stars, probably because it is solidly shot and even the acting is a millimeter above the level of local sewage). (02.02.2012)