Gagman

An almost flawless, absolutely lovingly written, filmed and acted six-part homage to classic slapstick. Who knows how much dust is now settling on it a corner of some TV archive. The main asset of Gagman is undoubtedly Boris Hybner. In 1987, he was in full force, so it's no wonder that he (together with Juraj Herz, although his contribution to the script was not essential) managed to create something like this. All the naivety, the simple plots that unleash comic hell, the stunning and elaborately choreographed scenes, the living town of Jollywood, of which we see a different part in each episode (and realize how expensive it must have been to build)... It's all perfect. Just like Al, Hybner's character, Tereza Pokorná and her clumsy girl Joya, the surprisingly good Jan Kanyza as the stupid Dewsbury constable, Zdeněk Srstka as the Frankenstein monster-criminal Frank N. Stone, the perpetually crouched Vlastimil Bedrna... And many others. Not to mention the perfection of Petr Hapka's music. Every episode of Gagman is different and unique in its own way. From the first part, Al's job-hunting is the most memorable (his attempts in the barber shop or behind the bar are so funny that I was afraid that nothing could beat them), in the second part there is a monumental cake battle, in the third part Al, as an employee of a film studio, tries to play a serious drama (like Hamlet holding a skull in his hand and with a questioning look "To be or not to be", he pulls out its teeth), the fourth part is devoted to the Gagstonian idiot cops among whom Al finds himself, and in the fifth part we watch the demise of silent movies and slapstick, and the final part... No, I can't reveal that. Five stars for the mastery. (2011.10.07)