Dařbuján a Pandrhola

A folk-proletarian fairy tale with a beautifully cheesy artistic stylization, a remarkably morbid story, a macabre sense of humor (when Death says things like: Cold water? Are you crazy? She could have died from it!), a tolerably engaged subtext and, of course, wonderful acting performances by Jiří Sovák, Rudolf Hrušínský and especially Standa Neumann. Martin Frič made a film that is relatively rough and realistic for a fairy tale, but in turn he also made a real story into a cute fairy tale. Anyway, it's great and pleasant fun. (02/09/2004)

A fairy tale classic that relies on the acting mastery of Jiří Sovák and Rudolf Hrušínský, based on the eponymous work by Jan Drda. The 1950s are somewhat evident in the film, and the sets are a bit kitschy, but overall, my impression is 75%. This is largely due to a number of enchanting dialogues and memorable quotes, like "You can't even hang yourself here!" (01/05/2007)

This is a classic Czech fairy tale in the sense that it is shown every Christmas, and yet it is not a classic fairy tale at all. It's more of a village comedy with a strong moral lesson and a story about how a person tries to overcome death. However, the film is made in such a way that there's no pathos in it, and I don't mind the morality at all in fact. (26/12/2017)