Beauty in Trouble: The Way They Live Now
Beauty in Trouble
Czech Republic, 2006
Directed by Jan Hrebejk
Beauty in Trouble is directed by Jan Hrebejk, who was responsible for the Foreign Language Academy Award nominated Divided We Fall from 2001. He is, it has to be said, a director who now makes more commercial oriented films that are a progressive departure from the tradition of directors (himself included) who emerged from the Velvet Revolution in the 1990s; a contemporary generation influenced by the prevailing spirit of the Czech New Wave in the 1960s. Beauty in Trouble is inspired by a Robert Graves poem updated to the present to tell the story of one woman caught between the affections of two men.
Regards the Czech way of life, time inexorably moves on and in the 21st Century there are more domestic issues to deal with than political ones. However, the state of the world and the way we live now is not only alluded to at the very beginning of the film, but is to cause the personal upheavals that lie ahead. The year is 2002. There has been a major flood in Prague that is threatening to devastate much of this historic city. Fortunately, no historic places were damaged though many important archives were lost and as most of the flooding was in the suburbs, many families suffered.
At the beginning of the film Marcela, a not so happily married young mother of two children, is watching the floods on Television from the safety of the spartan flat next door to her husband’s place of work. The floods were to cause her to lose her home, just like many others. The film subsequently revolves around Marcela’s many relationships – her husband, two children, her mother, her step-father and her mother-in-law. Into this world steps an older and wealthy Italian businessman called Evzen who inadvertently meets Marcela after her husband Jarda is tracked down after stealing his car for his illicit garage business. Instantly smitten by her beauty and earthy nature, Evzen offers to take care of Marcela and her children, with the option of a more secure life.
The many fine aspects of the film benefit from the development of the central and supporting characters and Beauty in Trouble touches a nerve on personal values in the modern world, in this case an under-privileged Czech family. It also injects humour into what otherwise would be typically realistic social situations. Marcela’s mother is mentally unstable and insists on giving what little money she has to a confidence trickster. The most entertaining character is Marcela’s mother’s common-law husband, also known as Uncle Richie. His playful taunting of Marcela’s children and everyone else, including himself, is entertaining and something of a throwback to stock characters from the Czech films of yesteryear.
Beauty in Trouble has deservedly won awards, most notably a Special Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary and Best European Film in Denver. In its own country, the leading and supporting actors have also been ceremoniously recognised. Still, it was not so surprising to find that the film, initially, only had an official release in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. However, following a year of playing in festivals, it has just been distributed in Poland and it will be interesting to see how it is received elsewhere.
Beauty in Trouble
Czech Republic, 2006
Directed by Jan Hrebejk
Beauty in Trouble is directed by Jan Hrebejk, who was responsible for the Foreign Language Academy Award nominated Divided We Fall from 2001. He is, it has to be said, a director who now makes more commercial oriented films that are a progressive departure from the tradition of directors (himself included) who emerged from the Velvet Revolution in the 1990s; a contemporary generation influenced by the prevailing spirit of the Czech New Wave in the 1960s. Beauty in Trouble is inspired by a Robert Graves poem updated to the present to tell the story of one woman caught between the affections of two men.
Regards the Czech way of life, time inexorably moves on and in the 21st Century there are more domestic issues to deal with than political ones. However, the state of the world and the way we live now is not only alluded to at the very beginning of the film, but is to cause the personal upheavals that lie ahead. The year is 2002. There has been a major flood in Prague that is threatening to devastate much of this historic city. Fortunately, no historic places were damaged though many important archives were lost and as most of the flooding was in the suburbs, many families suffered.
At the beginning of the film Marcela, a not so happily married young mother of two children, is watching the floods on Television from the safety of the spartan flat next door to her husband’s place of work. The floods were to cause her to lose her home, just like many others. The film subsequently revolves around Marcela’s many relationships – her husband, two children, her mother, her step-father and her mother-in-law. Into this world steps an older and wealthy Italian businessman called Evzen who inadvertently meets Marcela after her husband Jarda is tracked down after stealing his car for his illicit garage business. Instantly smitten by her beauty and earthy nature, Evzen offers to take care of Marcela and her children, with the option of a more secure life.
The many fine aspects of the film benefit from the development of the central and supporting characters and Beauty in Trouble touches a nerve on personal values in the modern world, in this case an under-privileged Czech family. It also injects humour into what otherwise would be typically realistic social situations. Marcela’s mother is mentally unstable and insists on giving what little money she has to a confidence trickster. The most entertaining character is Marcela’s mother’s common-law husband, also known as Uncle Richie. His playful taunting of Marcela’s children and everyone else, including himself, is entertaining and something of a throwback to stock characters from the Czech films of yesteryear.
Beauty in Trouble has deservedly won awards, most notably a Special Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary and Best European Film in Denver. In its own country, the leading and supporting actors have also been ceremoniously recognised. Still, it was not so surprising to find that the film, initially, only had an official release in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. However, following a year of playing in festivals, it has just been distributed in Poland and it will be interesting to see how it is received elsewhere.
posted by Steven Yates at 2:19 PM
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