This movie was really really good!
This film was made in the Czech Republic. It is in Czech or German with english subtitles. If you are easily offended by sex or nudity, don’t see it. But if you have any kind of sense of humor about sex and you don’t mind subtitles, go see this right away! The story involves a lot of very funny observations about sex and the lechery of the wealthy upper class in WW2 era Czechoslovakia. It was funny, moving, sad, and clever. The story and the script are filled with fascinating jokes, observations, and historical notes.
This movie has a huge and eccentric range of emotion and storytelling style. It’s a very good looking movie filled with visually captivating scenes and people. It has an array of different types of humor, from irony to clever sex humor to outright physical comedy. Although it covers a range of heartbreaking topics (the invasion and desolation of Czechoslovakia by first the Nazis and then Communists, executions, death, heartbreak, racism, prostitution, avarice, exile, aging, and prison) it keeps a playful view of the whole world, even in its most serious moments.
This film was moving and left me feeling great. I’m not surprised that it won 8 different film awards in the US, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Even though it came out in 2006, Sony Pictures Classics picked it up and subtitled it for US release in 2008, which means you should find it in the new releases section. I really recommend it!
- Director: Jirí Menzel
- Length: 2 hours
- IMDB: Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (2006)
