Storyteller

Macháček, attached to the bosoms of his two companions (sometimes even literally), hands out love and selfish weakness by the handful. Aňa Geislerová has a stylish haircut, and Štrba’s camera occasionally conjures a magical shot, but what about that final third, where it only lacked Hádek’s detective being approached by a powdered Robert Blake telling him to call home? If that was meant to cover up the triviality, it didn’t work. (18/11/2021)

Tant du point de vue objectif que subjectif, c’est le film le plus faible de Michálek. Mais il s'est donné du mal et j'apprécie à nouveau son courage pour s’être aventuré dans un genre non exploré. Quand on trie tous les films de Vladimír Michálek, on se rend compte qu’il n’y a pas plus diversifié que lui en matière de genres parmi les réalisateurs tchèques. Il se sera donc simplement dit qu’il pourrait tenter de combiner un roman féminin et une intrigue policière. Mais d’après moi, le problème fondamental réside dans la source littéraire. Ma condition d'homme ne m'a pas empêché de lire plusieurs livres de Barbara Nesvadbová et ceux-ci m’ont généralement plu, à l’exception justement de Pohádkář, que je considère comme son œuvre la moins bonne. C’est un livre décousu, confus et ennuyeux que même une intrigue policière et une transposition à l’écran ne peuvent raviver. Le film a quand même quelques atouts : Hádek et Geislerová, la musique, la photographie. Ça n’a pas marché, mais qu’importe, Michálek n’a plus rien à prouver et il peut poursuivre son exploration de genres nouveaux. (02/06/2015)

It’s as if the entire movie was taking place in some sort of a time vacuum. At first, Macháček is with Herzigová, then he’s with Geislerová and suddenly, they have a baby together. All the while Hádek investigates a single case and he’s been waiting for a DNA profiling result for years. I didn’t really get the movie, which was also due to the ending itself, but I’m giving it at least one star because of the actors. (18/07/2015)

I have heard that Storyteller is deceiving because no one would expect a Czech movie to work like this. The great cast is dominated as always by the excellent Geislerová (beautiful, sexy, measured, and edible), although the posters are mainly occupied by the somewhat amateur Herzigová. However, in partnership with Macháček and guided well by the director, she gives a remarkable performance, which can only be faulted for the classic imperfection of beautiful faces, namely that they cannot speak to the film. This was blamed on Lída Baarová in the early years, but the barely twenty-year-old worked on herself, while Eva is already forty and hasn't been a debutante for a long time. Storyteller looks good, works well, and evokes an atmosphere you'd want to bathe in. The environments of a crime film, a court, or a boarding school flow naturally, and the individual scenes fit together with complete naturalness. And even the likes of Linhart and Míčová lose their normal affect for the benefit of the whole. Of course, it is a joy to be reunited with Dvořák and Kroftová, who play big roles in a small space. (29/12/2014)

This film had so many acclaimed filmmakers involved and so many good actors and actresses starring in it that it's a mystery to me why it all didn't quite work together. Maybe the fault lies in the book by Barbara Nesvadbová, which I have not read and will most likely never read. (45%) (15/12/2021)