Pearls of the Deep

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Jul 2, 2014 1) Q: Who is Ji?í Menzel? A: Renowned Czcech New Wave contributor known for <i>Closely Watched Trains</i> (1966), <i>Capricious Summer</i> (1968), <i>Larks on a String</i> (1990) and <i>I Served the King of England</i> (2006). Q: Did he direct a segment here? A: Yes. Q: Name? A: <i>The Death of Mr. Baltazar</i> Q: Verdict? A: Playful, then draggy, then incendiary, then ironic. 81/100 2) Q: Who is Jan N?mec? A: Renowned Czcech New Wave contributor known for <i>Diamonds of the Night</i> (1964) and <i>A Report on the Party and the Guests</i> (1966). Q: Did he direct a segment here? A: Yes. Q: Name? A: <i>The Swindlers</i> Q: Verdict? A: Anecdotic, then nostalgic, then regretful, then reflective on trascendence. 75/100 3) Q: Who is Evald Schorm? A: Renowned Czcech New Wave contributor known for <i>Courage for Every Day</i> (1964) and <i>The Return of the Prodigal Son</i> (1967). Q: Did he direct a segment here? A: Yes. Q: Name? A: <i>The House of Joy</i> Q: Verdict? A: Dissonant, then impressionistic, then Oedipal, then supernatural. 82/100 4) Q: Who is V?ra Chytilová? A: Renowned Czcech New Wave rebellious girl known for <i>Something Different</i> (1963), <i>Daisies</i> (1966) and <i>Fruit of Paradise</i> (1970). Q: Did she direct a segment here? A: Yes. Q: Name? A: <i>The Globe Buffet</i> Q: Verdict? A: Celebrative, then inconsequential, then grim, then dreamlike. 86/100 5) Q: Who is Jaromil Jire? A: Renowned Czcech New Wave contributor known for <i>The Joke</i> (1968) and <i>Valerie and Her Week of Wonders</i> (1970). Q: Did he direct a segment here? A: Yes. Q: Name? A: <i>Romance</i> Q: Verdict? A: Romantic, then erotic, then socially idealistic, then metaphorically disturbing. 77/100 Bonus Q: Who is Bohumil Hrabal? A: He is regarded by many Czechs as one of the best writers of the 20th Century. Q: What does he have to do with anything? A: The five directors joined forces in this 1966 collage called <i>Pearls of the Deep</i>, where every single segment is based on one of his short stories. Q: Result? A: The Czech New Wave is probably the only movement that gathered the revolutionary visions of five excellent, and yet drastically different visions on the visual and symbolic capabilities of cinema. Put together, the film is entrancing, mysterious, utterly symbolic and yet socially appealing, displaying the ironies, the politics, the affairs, the nostalgic remnants, the art, the dreams and the divisions of complimentary social stratas seen through what might be perceived as a promotional collage of a movement that was beginning to adopt a shape, a voice, a statement, a whole vision... FINAL SCORE: (81 + 75 + 82 + 86 + 77) / 5 = 80.2 80/100 See more May 15, 2012 An anthology of adaptations of the short stories of Bohumil Hrabal by the young directors of the Czech New Wave. Suffers from the unevenness inherent in all omnibus films; unfortunately, the two opening segments (about some death-obssesed racing fans and two old men at a nursing home) are pointless. The better installments involve a crazy man who paints every inch of his house, a surreal story of an artist who may be a serial killer, and an unlikely romantic encounter between a fiery Gypsy teenager and a timid young plumber's apprentice. See more Read all reviews

Pearls of the Deep

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