Old-Timers

After the death of Ladislav Mrkvička, I watched "Staříci" in his honor. Throughout the movie, I admired the acting mastery of both him and Jiří Schmitzer. It is sad, painful, cruel, unjust, to the point where it hurts at the heart. I am very glad that such a film was made, and that it brought Mrkvička his last great role, in which he played with all his heart. I didn't mind the slow pace, on the contrary, it paradoxically seemed to me that we couldn't even talk about slowness, that we are constantly heading towards a great drama and resolution, even though we are watching long shots, silence, or preparation for the final action. (28/12/2020)

There you go. A clarified concept, consistently shabby aesthetics, a radically slow pace in the spirit of GerontoSympathy for a very slow Mr. Vengeance, a guarded acting tone, and Schmitzer at the head of everything, who leads his cart with the penetrating power of a tank. Unlike many documentary filmmakers, Dušek builds on the best of his documentary Into the Clouds We Gaze. It started flirting with a feature film, but doesn't flirt on the edge. Thanks to collaboration with Ondřej Provazník, Old-Timers has a cohesive film image, mature filming and a decent focus, which avoids literality, but certainly not vindictiveness. It is a road movie with liver spots and a properly bile image of a society that cycles in past wrongs and the inability to deal with the crimes of the past in any way. Most importantly, it is finally a film that does not have to compete in the "Paralympics", i.e. it’s good for a film from the Czech Republic. It’s simply a good film. That it didn't make it to the main competition in Karlovy Vary is almost a scandal. For example, it’s much better than Omerzu's Winter Flies. (21/11/2019)

Certainly, the film’s subject matter doesn’t resonate much with me since I belong to a younger generation, but from a technical standpoint, I can’t fault it much (I haven’t personally experienced that era, so I can’t fully immerse myself in the characters). The fact that both lead actors received Czech Lion awards for their roles is clear evidence of their exceptional performances. Performing masterfully on screen at such a young age is quite a feat :) The film offers many thought-provoking moments, with the ending at the retirement home and the final reckoning, where as a viewer you realize how fleeting everything is, being truly excellent. Although I’m giving it just three stars, it’s a strong three. For me, it’s 6.5/10. (05/03/2022)

I would very much like to give Old-Timers four stars, if only the script had managed to fill the 90-minute runtime. And that's exactly what the creators failed to do. The theme was excellent, both protagonists were fantastic, the dramatic line worked great for me (Lieutenant Colonel Reiner's doggedness was perfection). I would have been okay with the slow pace, but the plot was missing too often, and I felt like someone was desperately trying to stretch out a seventy-minute script to fit the desired hour and a half. I think it was a shame and it did the film unnecessary harm. (16/05/2020)

This year in Czech cinema is subtly interwoven with films about geriatric revenge. After the seasoned Iva Janžurová’s Shotgun Justice comes the Jiří Schmitzer-Ladislav Mrkvička duo, who are even closer to the grave, but still try to give purpose to the last moments of their lives and embark on a vengeful journey to find a half-forgotten injustice from the past. Old-Timers appeal lies mostly on the solid performances performances of the central duo and the believably written story, which offers many humorous moments alongside the dramatic line. (17/12/2019)