Pozdní máj

After Rolf Wanka's happy reunion with Czech cinema in Mother Kracmerka, he continued with an episode in Late May. Due to an inexperienced cameraman and unintentionally comic scenes, the film is just a series of whimsical images written by Karel Špelina. In love, now slightly adventurous, now comic, and now musical or depicting something in the style of From the World of Forest Solitude. In fact, this was only Jan Roth's second attempt after shooting Poaching on Another's Patch... However, I cannot condemn the whole as a clear fiasco and throw director Leo Marten senselessly into the imaginary garbage because I have nothing against his first sound films and I lack the audience experience with his silent films to appreciate his work as a whole. I find the most controversial component to be the cast because actors such as Marvan and Trégl are out of their rank in relatively amateurish roles, yet next to them literally shine the charming Otto Rubík and eloquent Čeněk Šlégl. Lilli Šturmová, whose acting is bland, or she’s rather not in touch with the sound film, is playfully overshadowed by the interestingly-contrasting performances of Máňa Hanková and Hana Vítová. The performances by Fiala and Richter are adequate up to their standard. I consider only the poor performances in the smallest role, i.e., Dvorský, Bráška, and others, to be downright despairing. Rising star Rolf Wanka, unfortunately, had nothing to do, and if someone dubs him while singing, then it really does affect his reputation. But as we know, that reputation was richly preserved and maintained at the time. (2010.06.10)