Pearls of the Deep
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$29.95
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Manufacturer: Facets
Starring: Frantisek Havel, Vladimír Boudník, Ivan Vyskocil (II), Ales Kosnar
Directed By: Jan Nemec, Jirí Menzel, Evald Schorm, Vera Chytilová, Jaromil Jires
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: FACETS VIDEO
EAN: 9781565804357
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 156580435X
Label: Facets
Manufacturer: Facets
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Facets
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2005-03-29
Running Time: 103
Studio: Facets
Theatrical Release Date: 1965
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Editorial Reviews:
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Five directors of the internationally acclaimed Czech New Wave of the 1960’s contributed to this landmark film anthology, including Jiri Menzel (Closely Watched Trains) and Jaromil Jires (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders). Each witty, entertaining short is based on a different story by legendary writer Bohumil Hrabal, renowned for his outrageous, surreal tales. Menzel sets the offbeat tone of the film with "Mr. Baltazar," about a motorcycle rally that focuses on the fans rather than the race. Next, Jan Nemec offers "The Swindlers," a bittersweet tale of two old men at the end of their lives, while Evald Schorm explores the strange life of a primitive artist in "House of Joy." Vera Chytilova tackles gender politics in "The Globe Buffet," and Jires concludes the film with "Romance," about a brief love affair between a young boy and a gypsy girl. This anthology showcased the groundbreaking styles and bold, new themes of the Czech New Wave. These young directors took advantage of a more liberal political era to make films that were daring in both content and style.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Shining Surreal Creations by Czech New Wave Cinema
Comment: These five short films are fascinating real life events taken to the extreme which are best described as a "comic tragedies". All the shorts are based on stories written by Czech author Bohumil Hrabel. His characters are common people who overcome unusual obstacles to survive. He creatively includes peculiar twists and turns to ordinairy events which spiral into absurd comedy that also has some underlying darker elements. All of it makes for great visual entertainment. Unfortunately, he received recognition for his work late in life due to the constraints and restrictions of living under communism. His own life story mirrored some of the tragic twists which are so evident in his writing. The liner notes tell us he died after falling out a hospital window while trying to feed some birds.
"Mr. Baltazar" directed by Jiri Menzel reminds me of the 1920s and '30s films with Buster Keaton. An older couple is traveling down a road in a 1930's roadster to a motorcycle race we later discover. The crowds build up, there are people sitting in hammocks high up in trees. The conversations between characters are surreal as the viewer waits to see where the film is headed. The characters are talking past each other, but the exaggerated mannerisms and personalities grab the viewers attention due to their quirky off beat nature. The unexpected death of one of the characters is contrasted with the youthful energy and speed of the racing motorcycles and motorcyclists who come in droves down the hills ... The story is hard to decipher in the beginning but the message becomes clear at the end.
My favorite stories were "The Swindlers" directed by Jan Nemec, "House of Joy" by Evald Schorm, and "Romance" by Jaromil Jires. In Swindlers, two elderly gentleman, hospital patients, are reminscing about their lives. One is waling around in a dressing gown, the other is lying in bed. He is gravely ill and short of breath when he speaks. There is an occasional cough which causes his friend great concern for his health. The bedridden elderly man describes his various leading roles on stage, and even has a photo album illustrating the plays in which he acted. The other elderly man answers questions about his writing career and describes one of his favorite published stories ... The final scene will blow the viewer away, as two morgue attendants talk about the deceased (one of the men who died in the hospital) in an off-hand casual manner, as his body lies on the morgue slab. It contrasts how one minute a human being is exalted in life talking about his successful life and the next he could be dead, just a subject of gossip by people who are bored with their jobs. "House of Joy" is the funniest and most entertaining of the five short films. The cinematography perfectly captures the absurdity and oddity of a peasant couple's home life. Two insurance salesmen call on them, the elderly man is tending some goats in the backyard. He invites the guests into his kitchen, which has walls painted with many unique scenes. He is a sort of peasant Michealangelo ... At some point, the camera hones in on a goat carcass hanging upside down, complete with fur, skin, and head with small horns. The salesmen are sweating as they do their best to explain the benefits of their insurance policy. They feign an interest in the artwork which covers every inch of the walls, cabinets, and doors of this kitchen. There is "Benny Hill" type humor throughout which makes it one of funniest short films I have ever seen. There are flashbacks, showing the peasant man holding a sharp knife while walking among his goats, trying to select the next one for slaughter. One of the salesmen wipes his horn-rimmed thick glasses, as it dawns on him, they are getting nowhere except deeply mired into listening to the life story of this elderly couple, who ramble on and on about their lives... The last scene shows spotted big eared rabbits hopping in the snow among carefully set up oil paintings sitting in the snow in the front yard. Clearly, it is an attempt by the peasant couple to raise cash from their artwork. "Romance" is another highly engaging film, which shows a young man coming out from a movie theater. He is looking at posters of the leading men, and viewing himself in the glass windows, dreaming of some big part in which he is the lead actor ... As he walks across the street, he glances at a pretty girl, whom he follows as she does some window-shopping. They flirt, and he ends up walking to her apartment. It is a broken down walk-up but filled with chandeliers and other expensive items. She makes excuses that her uncle is a businessman and trades goods ... They converse, getting to know each other and she teases about charging him for a liason. One is left wondering if she is really a prostitute or just a casual affair? They go to his home and learn more about each other, they even discuss marriage. She takes him to meet her parents and grandparents who live in the gypsy ghetto. All the stereotypes about gypsy life are depicted in full measure with great humor and style. In summary, these films are highly innovative and creative. With great irony, humor, abusurdity and surrealism, they visually portray the stories of one of the Czech Republics most famous and talented authors. The films will appeal to those who are interested in outrageous comedy with some tragic twists ... Erika Borsos {pepper flower}
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pearls of the deep
Comment: Colective film from the Czech Republic with shorts by Vera Chytilova, Jan Nemec, Jiri Menzel, Jaromil Jires and Evald Schorm inspired in five stories from the book with the same title by the czech surreal writer Bohumil Hrabal, one of the seminal writers of the Czech New Wave cinema. Good print, synthetic english translation and subtitles most of the times unsynchronized for this DVD edition.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating, but with highlights
Comment: Anthology films with multiple directors are always, always, always hit-and-miss affairs, so that's not surprising about this flick.
However, it is surprising that Jiri Menzel's segment is so bland, considering he might be the best translator of Bohumil Hrabal's prose to the screen -- CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS and LARKS ON A STRING are indescribably brilliant.
Jan Nemec's segment is decent, although it seems to have lost some of its punch in translation (more on this later).
Schorm's segment is the wildest, but it feels a bit lazy and without humorous snap.
Chytilova's segment is probably the best, although she works in a much more realistic style than in her masterpiece DAISIES.
And Jires closes it off with a nice interracial love story, and a shot of a little kid peeing.
The DVD of this, though, is dreadful -- Facets Video has a lot of fascinating films in its catalog that they give crappy treatment. The subtitles don't appear when the dialogue is spoken, but more often they appear 10 seconds later. The image is obviously taken from an analog master with numerous glitches throughout.
Worth it, though, for the curious.
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