Konec starých časů

I always have Menzel associated mainly with My Sweet Little Village, which was actually written by Svěrák, so I'm always surprised by the fact that the characters in his other films speak like lunatics. Or rather they recite in a new-wave style with an apparent effort to respect the source, be quotable, and provocatively touchy. I haven't read the source material, but obviously, it deals with a quite ambitious theme that could hardly be covered through actors like Abrhám, Hanzlík, or Hrušínský, who unfortunately constantly distract from the plot with their overacting, which can also be seen by the audience's reactions, who mostly praise that particular actor in that role instead of focusing on how the film processes such a large, insightful, and dangerous theme. I mainly had to admire how many characters and plots Menzel can cram into a square frame, with the most likely leaving an impression on me being the gloomy autumn atmosphere of the castle and its surroundings. (27.07.2023)

It doesn’t matter if Mr. Menzel uses a Bohumil Hrabal’s or Vladislav Vančura’s story as his source material. His way of filmmaking is beautifully and nostalgically melancholic and he always manages in an absolutely perfect way to include a fresh joke, thanks to which you simply fall in love with the actors of that era. In my opinion, this is the most significant role of Mr. Abrhám.  And the rest of the cast is very nonchalantly complementing him in the story. (14.01.2019)