Directed by:
Jan SvěrákScreenplay:
Zdeněk SvěrákCinematography:
Vladimír SmutnýCast:
Zdeněk Svěrák, Daniela Kolářová, Tatiana Dyková, Jiří Macháček, Pavel Landovský, Jan Budař, Nela Boudová, Miroslav Táborský, Věra Tichánková, Jana Plodková (more)VOD (1)
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This film is the last in a life trilogy from director Jan Svěrák and screenwriter/actor Zdeněk Svěrák. The trilogy began with Elementary School, exploring childhood, continued into adulthood with Academy award winning Kolya, and now comes to completion with this comic love story about men facing old age. Czech literature teacher Josef Tkaloun, who is past retirement age, realises one day that he no longer understands his pupils, and so he quits... dramatically. What he does not predict is that in doing this he will lose his sense of place in society. He finds himself isolated in his city flat with only his wife Eliska for company. Unsure how to deal with this new situation, Josef tries to find a way out. After a few vain attempts at finding a decent job, he accepts a position at a refundable bottles counter in the local supermarket. In this seemingly inhospitable place, he solves what had been the root of his unhappiness. Surrounded by characterful people and at the centre of a city community, Josef finally finds his way back to his own wife. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
A guarantee of quality. Excellent script, excellent Svěrák in the lead role, but the best thing in the film is definitely Daniela Kolářová. It's amazing to watch her character nip every new idea of the protagonist in the bud, crush it and stomp it to the ground without even trying. I was royally entertained alike I am with every Svěrák comedy. It blows my mind how Zdeněk Svěrák can keep up such a high quality of writing for so long. 30 years after the premiere of Secluded, Near Woods, he has lost none of his genius.
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Czech film is not dead, and as long as Jan Svěrák keeps directing and Zdeněk Svěrák keeps writing, it won't be. Whether their films are nostalgic or innovative, they are always universally appealing to audiences, and the same goes for Empties. For the creative duo, the character of the aging muleteer has become almost comically typical, guiding us through the corners of old age and rediscovering the meaning of life. They deserve a more generous running time that would allow Pavel Landovský, Jan Budař, or Jiří Macháček to shine even more, as they are practically screaming for attention. It is a great pity that a poorly directed epilogue undoes the previous twenty minutes and almost erases it from memory. Bitterness simply does not suit the overall sentiment, and it would be better to let natural kindness prevail.
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Movies by members of the Svěrák family are probably the only Czech movies that I like watching and look forward to. The actors don’t just make silly faces, but act and the atmosphere of the story is captivating. Plus, the characters are well written and the story loses none of its tempo in the second half. Simply a fine family movie where everybody will find something to entertain them.
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Empties brings a nice and warm human scent on the topic of the eternally restless male heart, which somehow the rest of the body is no longer able to help. The film offers a fun, beautifully written and engaging sequence of stories, few of which feel far-fetched. The old man, as portrayed by Zdeněk Svěrák, breathes wisdom and joyful childhood more than rigidity or exalted moralization. Mainly thanks to him, after a long time, a Czech film that makes sense and has poetry is playing in movie theatres in the Czech Republic. Empties is not the peak of the son-father manufactory; nevertheless, I thank the film from the bottom of my heart for the warm feeling I took away from the movie theatre.
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Zdeněk Svěrák is still considered an excellent observer of what is happening around him, and he is able to write characters with a human dimension. All of them except his protagonist because Tkaloun struck me as a perfectly fabricated wishful thinking of an ideal pensioner, so it is in him that I miss the aforementioned soulful dimension. Moreover, I often miss the signature of Svěrák when he was younger, and he is content with (albeit) impressive references to his previous films. I don’t want to completely damn Empties, especially considering the rest of Czech cinema, so I give it an additional star, but also a star less for a film by this duo making me feel that it is calculated and slightly egocentric. A diffident 60%.
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