Kovář z Podlesí
Kovář z Podlesí
Directed by:
Pavel GöblScreenplay:
Pavel GöblCinematography:
Richard ŠpůrCast:
Bolek Polívka, Gregor Bauer, Valerie Šámalová, Filip Dvořák, Matěj Převrátil, Josef Somr, Milan Markovič, Rostislav Novák ml., Jiří Pecha, Szidi Tobias (more)Plots(1)
Woodham is a small village the war with the Turks swept through some years ago. The powers of good were asked for assistance, but this assistance involved the doing of evil, which has adverse consequences and brings bad luck... that needs to be redressed. The main hero, the Blacksmith's nephew and war orphan Tonik, takes on the task of breaking the curse on Woodham and thereby winning the hand of Betka, the mayor's granddaughter (who is also put under a spell during the action), by ridding the county of the dragon. However, on his journey to confront the dragon and during that encounter he discovers that it is all in fact a test, which ends with the dragon helping him: Tonik, with the dragon's help, breaks the spell on Betka and the entire county. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (2)
I'm quite sad to have to rate The Blacksmith From Woodham so poorly. The film just doesn't work well as a whole. The individual performances are excellent - Polívka, Somr, Seidlová and the puppet dubbers. The combination of acting action with a mechanical puppet and other interesting special effects (the use of camera obscura) is bold and daring and I would like to see more of such elements in Czech films. It is also interesting to set the fairy tale in a different time period than is usual in the region... Hence the unorthodox costumes, etc. However, the child actors are downright weak, the script lacks the steady hand of a dramaturgist, and so a look at the whole is unfortunately just a parade of missed opportunities.
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The word actor is probably from the verb "to play", not "to act." One gets the impression from the film The Blacksmith from Woodham that the actors are indeed playing in a created world. They even have movable toys that speak to them, which is facilitated by the presence of animated puppets/animals. The story is a mishmash of different fairy tales as if the creators didn't know which one to choose. Several storylines meet in one, which is not very entertaining. And it's not helped even by the famous actors. But I was surprised by Somr, who is incredibly vital for his age. Somehow, we Czechs just don't know how to tell those stories. Even this one tries to be cute and accessible to everyone, but it creates the impression that at times the creators weren't sure if they were writing for adults or for children.
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