By a Sharp Knife

Un drame qui vous attire avec une histoire troublante inspirée d'événements réels plutôt que par la sophistication du scénario ou la forme de réalisation (le scénario était plus créatif dans un film slovaque similaire Budiž světlo). S'y ajoutent un bon casting et de bonnes performances d'acteurs. Je vois la plus grande faiblesse dans la description simpliste du processus judiciaire, qui aurait dû être le point culminant du film – également émotionnellement. Mais c'est une très bonne chose que des films soient tournés sur ces événements en Slovaquie. Ils seront un témoignage important pour les générations futures de Slovaques lorsque le pays changera pour le mieux. [3Kino Fest] (15/11/2020)

Apart from the final trial, which smacks of absurdity at times, By a Sharp Knife feels very realistic. Only it's all a bit tired. I can't shake the impression that a more talented and experienced director could have turned the strong subject into a truly worthwhile film. (65%) (17/04/2021)

Slovakia is a ridiculous country if it is incapable of not convicting four killers who obviously murdered a man on public record and their actions cannot be denied, but they still won't convict them on the basis of withholding evidence or other legal contortions. The acting is unconvincing, the trial, on which similar foreign films build most of their success, is dealt with in a few minutes, and the rest is more or less a family drama about the loss of a son that isn't entirely badly presented, but it's long, drawn out and points out the corruption and unwillingness of the judicial system far too blatantly and unbelievably. If they had kept things a bit more down to earth, just hinting at this idea more lightly, and let our mind wander, they would have done better. I'm not quite the target audience, and I watched the film out of curiosity, but I still wouldn't objectively classify it as more than average. (20/11/2020)