Julek

I wouldn't be as quick to evaluate this movie as many others are. Surely, the premise is a pure cliché, and it is essentially pointless to focus on the childhood of Julius Fučík in the space of a full-length film (specifically during the decline of Fučík's cult). However, it is necessary to perceive under what circumstances such a project was handled and whether the result is indeed such a failure. During normalization, a whole series of much more problematic waste was created. These are at least interesting images from old Austria-Hungary, and a certain view of the children's world in the years before the First World War. The director is Ota Koval, a seasoned professional in working with child actors (especially the often-praised collaboration with Žaneta Fuchsová) and at least in these categories, the result is successful. I understand that today only a minority will be interested in the realities of Fučík's childhood, which he lived in the theatrical environment in Prague and in Pilsen, but at least music, film scientists or theater researchers will surely appreciate the attempts to capture that great cultural life between the Smíchov Arena, film screenings in pub venues, and the opera stage of the City Theater in Pilsen. Because this line is truly worth attention. (04.06.2022)