Normal the Düsseldorf Ripper

Are monsters born, or do we create them? That's the question and an important pillar of the film. The reviews that say Normal is anything but normal were, in a sense, right. It's a thriller with everything and it stands out from the crowd in the poor Czech cinema. It is perverse! It's morbid! But it's definitely not normal! The actors fit their characters like an apple to a tree. Milan Kňažko gives a great and convincing performance. Dagmar Havlová doesn't have much space, but she's captivating too. Newcomer Pavel Gajdoš definitely has a future in the film world. A well-written script, a well-situated camera and the icing on the cake is a perfectly lit and as colourless as possible image, which really suits films of this type. Looking at it as a whole, it impressed me and made me think and ponder ... 75%. (03/07/2010)

Considering the positives that Ševčík's Restart boasted, it is only natural that Normal is also built primarily on its formal aspects. The script is not dazzling, and the ambition to tell a realistic period crime story has given way to a neo-noir stylization. Of course, it's great that Peter Kürten's story inspired this group of filmmakers. Ševčík and Riestra profess a video clip aesthetic, Muchow doesn't tackle jazz, and the makeup artists don't bother to do their makeup and hair in a way that makes the whole thing look like Weimar. It is better to give up on a good period piece when it doesn't suit you and make it entirely your own than to trap a similar piece in a static theatrical recording or a TV production and condemn it to a small number of reruns. (08/29/2016)

My impressions are somewhat contradictory: on the one hand, the wonderful idea of expanding the expressionist image of a monster, which reflects the essential dilemmas of the Weimar Republic, a bizarre intermediate stage between the creature and the savior. However, Ševčík offers only very schematic answers to all the burning questions in a selected visual, great composition, in the play of light and darkness. He reduces the characters to the level of symbols of "good", "evil", "innocence", and does not offer complex psychological portraits. In the end, however, the viewer is not much wiser than at the beginning. Yes, a well-versed fan of German expressionism will be delighted, and it also warms the soul that a Czech film is finally coming to movie theatres that does not go with the flow and evokes controversial impressions. Personally, I would like to watch Normal: The Düsseldorf Rippe in detail once more time to see if my constructions have support in what was filmed. Part of me feels that Ševčík made a lot of promises, served a full tray of treats for "literate" viewers, but under the selected audio-visual, this is far from a film that can satisfactorily answer its own questions. However, I emphasize: we have not had such a stimulating Czech film for years. Hosanna. (03/28/2009)

I’m sure many people won’t agree with me, but immediately after leaving the cinema I’m happy that Normal the Düsseldorf Ripper didn’t fulfil what the trailer had promised. Yes, the visuals are of course excellent, but the expected plot of a classic thriller didn’t turn out to be true. Nowadays there are thrillers everywhere, but a lyrical psychological drama like this is a very unusual thing, not only here in Czechia, so why complain when it works really well? The actors are great without exception, the dialogues serve more as an expression of extreme moods than to move the plot forward, which is very fitting for the style of the film. (03/28/2009)

In a certain sense, Ševčík's Normal reminds me of the works of director F.A. Brabec - at the very least in terms of how the form strongly outweighs the banal content and how the director revels in depicting the most clichéd of clichés. Normal is pretentious, impressively filmed, meticulously scored, and adequately performed pseudo-artistic boredom. The dialogues are full of clichés, and the screenplay is uninspired and lacks tension. I experience more excitement watching a children's bedtime story... Overall impression: 40%. (04/02/2009)