Akumulátor 1

A beautiful showcase of the golden nineties in free Czech cinema. It features unusual subject matter, genre games, inspiration from abroad, but also Cimrman-like recession (Svěrák Sr. paired with Kolářová, Smoljak with his proverbs), beautiful women (and their cleavages observed through the playful optics of a very young director) and a memory of a time when it was possible to believe in anything. Some of the pop culture references may have faded a bit, but others are still pleasing years later. However, the love for the medium of film is clearly audible, with the best gags being the captions. And that’s not even mentioning the work with the main motifs from "Nabucco." (2009.02.17)

After elementary school, Jan Svěrák decided to take a risk and try out a substance that had not yet been tested in the Czech Republic, which was a genre mix between parody, comedy, love story, adventure film, and philosophical allegory. While The Elementary School is a stylistically pure retro comedy, which was written with certainty, Accumulator 1 had a difficult time finding an audience in the Czech Republic due to its genre ambiguity. This was partially due to the risky casting, which cast Petr Forman in the lead role, and his co-star was also an unknown actress in the Czech Republic. Additionally, at the time of its release, the Czech Republic was not sufficiently saturated with Hollywood action productions, which Svěrák evidently made fun of. The cosmopolitan film, to a large extent, unfairly earned a reputation as a weaker film both from critics and audiences. On the other hand, the film's budget and the technical aspect, which was especially demonstrated in scenes from a parallel reality behind a TV screen, are at a very respectable level. It is not a bad film, even if only for its originality and uniqueness among Czech films and the high professionalism of the screenwriter and director. Overall impression: 75%. (2006.06.13)

Comedy overflowing with visual ideas that combines ecology with sci-fi, romance, and one-liners. Jan Svěrák was incredibly lucky back then when he had this script at his disposal and had his father and Petr Forman in their best form in front of the camera, so it's no wonder. I like goats. (2006.11.19)

The filmmaking elite of that time gathered in a thoroughly bold and globally unique film that preceded technical alternative reality trends by five years, and nobody knows about it. While The Matrix, The 13th Floor, and all these thematically similar films fit together like a brilliant mechanism, Accumulator 1 doesn't care about having the sci-fi future in its hands but instead revels in bizarre scenes, surrealism, and funny details (not just the obligatory inspection inside a human body or snails, but for example, lapiduši covering their ears as if loading a heart like soldiers firing mortars or the ride through the city by Svěrák). The way Jan Svěrák seamlessly connects reality with the absolutely unreal is unique, and the scenes from behind the TV are absolutely brilliant. Worth mentioning is Brabcova's excellent camera work (in the first half of the 90s, Czech cinema was on the rise, so it is frantically bustling for its life) and the dramatically escalating music that can be compared to any current overseas production. Accumulator is unequivocally the best post-revolutionary Czech film that makes one angry not only due to its absolute oblivion but also the fact that Svěrák, after the fiasco with The Elementary School, is making ballasts like Returnable Bottles. (2012.06.04)

"I'm unconscious. I've been unconscious for the third day and I don't know about it because I'm unconscious." I don't know how many years later I saw Accumulator 1 today, but I know for a fact that I didn't like it as much "back then". It is not only Jan Svěrák's most original film, but also, in my opinion, the most original film that has been made in this country since the revolution. The viewer is bombarded with tons of enormously playful ideas (even Terry Gilliam would not be ashamed of the first scene from "the world behind the screen"), the music is roaring with the main motif that is Elfman-like, Petr Forman's initially a bit strange acting is easy to get used to, and Zdeněk Svěrák, Marián Labuda or Bolek Polívka are, of course, certainties. "I was with the president this morning. He's the only one who could cancel the TV broadcast." - "And what did he tell you?" - "They wouldn't let me near him." (2015.10.16)