Kajínek

O visual moderno do thriller «tremido», realista na versão checa não é embaraçoso, pelo contrário, funciona bem e ajuda a melhorar a experiência de um filme que não tem muito a oferecer em termos de conteúdo. De facto, no momento em que finalmente começa, está tudo acabado. Isto não é uma crítica aos argumentistas, mas à polícia checa, que apanhou Kajínek tão rapidamente e não lhe deu espaço para fazer mais travessuras lá fora :) Os atores são decentes, o sucesso comercial é admirável. Será que no futuro veremos o primeiro filme de ação checo realmente bom de Jákl? Para ganhar dinheiro para si próprio, ele teria de ter um tema tão atraente para o público como Kajínek, o que não será fácil... (27/09/2010)

Jákl has seen a lot of films. This film looks "American" more than anything else, and Czech cinema finally has a real "bad-ass" character (Konstantin Lavronenko!), but making movies about people who the media will make saints out of is kind of immoral. We could have almost finally had a proper Czech genre film without a sour taste in our mouths. 3 ½. (12/11/2010)

The film version of a tabloid that plays at serious journalism. Exploitation attractions (anal sex!, tears!, blood!), a visual aspect made interesting at any cost and characters that can be described with a single word (with an exclamation point) turn an intimate court/prison drama into something resembling an ancient tragedy. Everything is BIG and IMPORTANT on the surface and definitely doesn’t demand that we look too deeply beneath that surface. The roles are clearly divided, the protagonist is a super-positive guy whose life is ruined by a bunch of assholes (which I would have no trouble believing if I ignored the title “inspired by actual events”). The dramaturgy was handled satisfactorily. The end of one scene arouses curiosity as to what will happen in the next one, the simple visual shortcuts help with orientation in the relationships between the characters and important information is repeated emphatically enough that after a few tens of minutes you figure out what the lawyer is shocked to learn shortly before the ending. Furthermore, the formalistic techniques are so overused that you will know at the beginning of most of the scenes where the director is heading (here someone will get shot, there someone will fly off of the road), thanks to which the film is devoid of any surprises. As a spectacle for those who are oblivious to the incredible naïveté and for those who are amused by that naïveté, Kajínek stands out from Czech genre movies that don’t offer such a “binary” possibility of cultural experience, a certain element of self-assured trashiness. 50% (29/11/2011)

Petr Jákl made a decent follow-up to the minority series of Czech action films, which after all have come a long way. However, I wouldn't go overboard with any ode to joy regarding this. As a film, Kajínek looks good, works well, and makes sense. Vilhelmová handles the lead role well and it is acceptable that most of the shots are carried by her acting. However, the supposed super look of the whole film also begins and ends with her trendy hairstyle and clothes. A significant step backward is the roles played by Alice Bendová and Michal Dlouhý, who only copy their performances from The Velvet Murderers. Horváthová - Jakubisková was also not cast ideally and I would blame the casting, not the actors themselves. One positive surprise was of course Vladimír Dlouhý and Václav Noid Bárta. The performances of Lavronenko and Linda were greatly influenced by the choice of their dubbers, and their characters blended adequately with the foreign voices, as was the case of their colleagues in the Czech film The Bitch's Diary. They were reproached for it back then, yet now it seems that audiences have gotten used to it or they don’t worry about what they need to find as an excuse to give it a lower rating. Which is positive. I'll see how Kajínek changes with the passage of time, i.e., if it fits in like the overly harsh Bolero, also visually worked on by F. A. Brabec, or if it will continue to stand out. (21/08/2010)

A film that is controversial in the most banal and brutal way I can imagine. A film with a solid momentum, but at the same time with a dizzyingly romanticizing image of Kajínek as a Czech James Bond. It is almost impossible to believe that this person is a member of the Czech underworld, as rather he looks like the post-revolutionary Mirek Dušín. I find that unequivocally questionable. The affected attempt at lyricism also got on my nerves, whether in the overstretched music of Václav Bárta or in the traditionally opulently empty camera of F. A. Brabec. The pinnacle of the movie? A famous and without question riveting performance by Lavroněnko, who made Kajínek into a character with whom the viewer will very easily identify and will feel sorry for/admire... Well? I doubt it. (29/07/2010)