Čapkovy povídky

Next to Vávra's Krakatit, probably the best film adaptation of Karel Čapek's literary legacy, which, thanks to the experienced Martin Frič, became a timeless statement about human conscience, responsibility, and guilt. It has that kind of First Republic patina and yet artistically valuable content, it doesn't sound cheap and hastily made like the majority of Czech films created before the nationalization of cinematography. Even in small roles, great actors of their time appear. Comic and tragic stories that bear Čapek's signature. 80% of the overall impression considering the time of creation. (2008.11.23)

A very pleasant little film where it doesn't matter that the individual stories are a bit clumsily connected to each other and don't have much of a cohesive value, it's great and clever entertainment through and through that manages to fully rely on the book's subject matter and on excellent actors in all the roles (besides the traditionally great Marvan or Smolík, there’s also Palo Bielik, whose drunken performance borders on either acting or alcoholic genius). What's more, all the stories (except perhaps the downright comedic search for the child) reek of Čapek's contempt for the greed of society and the upper class, among whom an honest person would have a very hard time. Quite possibly Martin Frič's best film, his inventive direction cannot be faulted this time. (2018.09.27)