KOLYA
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman
This is the Czech entry for the Academy's best Foreign Film. I have never yet seen a Foreign Film entry that I did not like, and KOLYA is no exception. True there are periods when the action does not seem to be moving fast enough but those are mostly at the film's beginning. The film picks up greatly, however, with the appearance of 5-year-old Kolya (the 6-year-old Andrej Chalimon who was discovered in a kindergarten.)
Every moment in which Kolya appears is delightful and once he enters the story he dominates the film. He is a very handsome child, who with a little luck will be asked to act in many films in his future. He seems born to act; his face, his movements, are all professional yet childlike. One wants to hug him.
The story is of Fratizek Louka (Zdenek Sverak, who also wrote the screenplay), a cellist in the Czech Philharmonic but, with Russia's army in Czechoslovakia, he cannot earn enough to live on and so he supplements his income by playing in a chamber group at funerals.
A friendly grave-digger suggests that Fratizek marry his niece; not a real marriage but signing a slip of paper. In exchange he will be paid sufficient money to buy a small car, pay his rent. Fratizek wants to remain in every way a bachelor but when he sees the pretty niece, he relents.
Things now happen quickly. His "bride" runs off to Germany with her lover but leaves her 5-year-old son Kolya with his "father", Fratizek. In no time at all, as we can easily surmise, Fratizek and Kolya love each other as if they were, in fact, father and son.
A delightful film.
In Czech with English subtitles.
Directed by Jan Sverak.
3.5 BYTES
4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to miss 2 Bytes = Average 1 Byte = Save your money
Ben Hoffman
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