Michal Kriz

Comments

Sátántangó

From my point of view, a breathtaking image of a dying society, composed in artistically ingenious units. Editing, mise-en-scène, music: everything in perfect harmony. Only few films tell a story even with their simple duration.

MARKETA LAZAROVÁ

Now a classic work of Czechoslovak cinematography. Consistent and original adaptation of the great (of the same name) literary work by Vladislav Vančura. Vláčil filmed a black-and-white odyssey through the medieval world and the human soul of each of us.

Spalovac mrtvol

An adaptation of one of the best Czechoslovak novels, written by Ladislav Fuks, of the second half of the 20th century, which belongs to the history of Czechoslovak cinema. The amazing editing composition and the performance of Rudolf Hrušínský in the main role still induce admiration and encourage reflection.

Barry Lyndon

In Kubrick's opulent presentation, Thackeray's hochstapler is not only a still-living caricature of many of us, but also, above all, a merciless image of a society based on innate and hereditary superiority.

Andrei Rublev

Tarkovsky's masterpiece, which is perhaps more relevant today than in the past. There are few works, whether literary (perhaps the case of Umberto Eco) or cinematographic, in which the Middle Ages are so close to us. I consider the final look at the icon set to be one of the best movie sequences I know.

322

In the context of the Czechoslovak new wave, I consider Hanák's debut to be a still relevant, "unpleasant", contempolative work that is worth paying attention to and that is somewhat underappreciated. A great example of working with music and psychological detailing of individual characters.

Fanny and Alexander

It is difficult to comment on this colorful epopee of one family, in which the whole world is mirrored. Alexander's perspective is for me the highlight of film narration using different focalization.

J'ACCUSE

From my point of view, a brilliant work of cinematography (editing, especially montage editing sequences, method of narration, mise-en-scène in multiple plans, etc.) fully capturing the horror and senselessness of the war rage. Man becomes a tool of tactics, and after a hundred years, unfortunately, nothing has changed.

Teorema

The weight and difficulty of symbolism in Pasolini's breakthrough film work still irritates and provokes. The Pilgrim of Capitalism surrounded by Morricone's musical arrangement recalls Pasolini's favorite Terrazza Mascagni view of the abandoned bodies of failed citizens.

Further remarks

Along with literature, film is a key art form for me that continues to fascinate me. Writing about film is not a job, or at least it shouldn't be (ideally). I try to make the potential of the word correspond at least a little with the richness of the film image. It sounds somewhat archaic and, admittedly, even pathetic, but I am primarily concerned with nothing else. The selection provided is the result of an associative work. The sequence, the mood, the emotions, I do not claim to be a rational reflection of film history.