Janžurka
Directed by:
Theodora RemundováScreenplay:
Theodora RemundováCinematography:
Jan ŠípekComposer:
Tadeáš VěrčákCast:
Iva Janžurová, Theodora Remundová, Sabina Remundová, Marta Kubišová, Stanislav Remunda, Igor Orozovič, Alice Nellis, Dušan Hanák, Valeria RecmanPlots(1)
Theodora Remundová’s documentary portrait looks at Iva Janžurová’s dramatic and comedic roles in both film and theater, as well as the roles she has played in her family and in social and political life. The director (Janžurová’s daughter) has created a film filled with the truthfulness, sincerity, and capacity for self-reflection of a woman who has devoted her life to acting. The use of clearly staged scenes is combined with an openly acknowledged effort to avoid the kinds of clichés usually found in biographical documentaries to create an organic whole that provides an overview of Janžurová’s pivotal roles while also sharing highly personal and intimate moments from her life. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (2)
A standard tendentious profile that recapitulates the life and successes of a famous person. In this case, it is the story of the excellent actress Iva Janžurová, filmed by her daughter, Theodora Remundová, but the close ties between the director and the protagonist are apparent in the film basically only in the familiar form of address that the director uses with the subject of her film. The whole documentary seems as if it was made spontaneously without any kind of concept, so it is only a sequence of sloppily arranged and formalistically incongruous fragments mixing together everything possible. Iva Janžurová reminisces about her childhood, then rehearses a stage play and later reconstructs a long-ago event from her life, attends a family celebration in the present, sometimes quotes dialogue from her roles directly to the camera, reads from love letters from her admirers (which she obviously did not enjoy doing), and so on. All of this is interspersed with scenes from her films and recordings of stage productions, archival family materials and period recordings of events in Czechoslovak history. Fortunately, Iva Janžurová’s naturalness, acting skill and endearing personality come through in this mish-mash, thanks to which some moments are entertaining and interesting. However, most of the documentary is just tiresome. It’s summed up superbly by the ending, in which the director asks her mother what she thinks about the intention to look into her inner self in the film. And Iva Janžurová replies: “Well, that’s just nonsense. My inner self says that this cheese was really good.”
()
(KVIFF 2024) Making a documentary about a member of your family can be a tricky task, but Theodora Remundova has succeeded in her quest. Personally, I would have shortened the film by a good twenty minutes, as some parts were a bit too tedious. But I do appreciate the fact that along with the familiar archival footage from films, there were also lesser-known archival photographs, encounters with classmates, and love letters. At times I was distracted by Iva Janžurová’s witticisms, which quite unnecessarily detracted from the rest of the film. Besides a number strong moments, the documentary was dominated by funny sequences and remarks from the mouths of "Ivuška" and her relatives, which amused the whole audience.
()