Florián

A weathered grotesque in Lada's guise. In the end, I do acknowledge some comedic (and Charleston) elements, and I appreciate the continuation of the poetics of Playing with the Devil and Darbujan and Pandrhola, which nowadays only resembles the long-forgotten Barrandov invention. Fortunately, it later inspired a television production before it was forgotten altogether. The story is lavish to the point of woe, but the cast is very plump. Besides the color of the town, which so perfectly refers to Verne's Zeman-type books, the film features a whole series of unexpected loving couples. Hlaváčová/Kostka, Bek/Thielová (popular since Florenc 13:30) and Bohdalová/Brodský. Fialová, Effa, and Hrušínský are again absolutely consummate extremists and playfully outshine Sovák in the lead role in their episodes. Fialová with a rifle, Effa and Hrušínský in religious garb. All in all, Florián is one of those films that doesn't need to be suppressed so much on TV screens today. (15/03/2011)

It's a very simple and, moreover, sort of sticky (I don't know how to describe the feeling better) film in places, but it's still watchable without much harm. The scenery may only look admiringly at Playing with the Devil, but Florián is full of excellent actors who are a joy to watch (Jiří Sovák, of course, is the king of them all), and all sorts of jokes are hidden everywhere - even in the music. (24/12/2015)