Honeymoon

I can't help but think this film is extremely well constructed, where you have an almost uncomfortable sense of something terrible that could happen. This may not come to fruition in the way you expect, but the film is still quite gritty in its second half. This is where Hřebejk's mastery of gradually revealing what is important comes into play. (08/03/2018)

Honeymoon is a tense drama about guilt, responsibility and shadows of the past that will catch up with you. Psychologically precise, with only one or two editing lapses (read: WTF moments), it constantly leaves the audience in doubt as to where the truth is and who is lying, who the villain is and who the victim is. There is also welcome comic relief in the character of the sister’s husband, who prefers to sleep on the toilet when he’s drunk. (30/06/2013)

So that was power, and I won't hesitate to call Honeymoon a small Czech variation on Vinterberg's Festen. The first thing I have to mention is the absolutely fabulous camera work by Martin Štrba, which is even more emphasized by the beautiful scenery. Further, excellent performances by Černý, Geislerová, and Majer. Last but not least, the script and music. I only did not like the final excessive visual literalness. However, that cannot change my overall opinion. The last three Hřebejk's films are one better than the other, even if we don't take too much positivity from them. Well, I used to dislike him before, but rather for his arrogant opinions, when Cosy Dens overshadowed Návrat idiota in the eyes of critics. But as a director, he is truly outstanding. Since I saw Forbidden Relaxation in Rubín, I understand that we have something to look forward to in 2014. I don't really understand the local ratings here, but I don't understand that about many Czech films. (11/02/2014)

I have reservations about the final quarter of an hour, which is brought down by the weak script. Nevertheless, such a good psychological drama, captivatingly filmed by cinematographer Martin Štrba, would probably be hard to find in Czech cinema over the last ten years. A lot of credit for this goes not only to the quality direction of Jan Hřebejk but also to the convincing performances of the central trio. (75%) (11/02/2021)

This film is like Dogma with incredibly stupid descriptive monologues and one-liners like "we hid inside of each other". The only uncertainty in the film is when one of the characters goes from book recitations to wooden talk. Psychology? Ridiculous. Trier's final heist beyond the edge of everything. A fake game of an aestheticized tragedy, under which there is a black hole of persistent efforts to get inside the pathology of human relationships. It's not just that Jarchovsky's scenarios are excessive, unnatural and disintegrating (although they can theoretically reconstruct logical thematic units, contexts and intentions to shake the viewer), it's that Hřebejk chooses a senselessly pompous style instead of civility, which exacerbates the debility as a result. His films do not lack ambition and potentially a world look, but they do desperately lack the ability to get into characters in ways other than through visual and verbal explicitness. Sorry, but this fake offends me deeply. [30%] (21/08/2013)