Directed by:
Alice NellisCinematography:
Matěj CibulkaComposer:
Michal NovinskiCast:
Marian Labuda, Vladimír Javorský, Vojtěch Dyk, Eliška Křenková, Bolek Polívka, Zuzana Bydžovská, Václav Neužil ml., Klára Melíšková, Zuzana Kronerová (more)Plots(1)
Angels - film based on a novel by Michal Viewegh Angels of Everyday, is set in Prague's Nusle district. But this time the subject matter is not just life and its little dramas. The story focuses on a few intimate family members: a recently widowed young doctor; a school canteen cook and her son; a driving instructor, his wife, and their closest relatives. One thing that sets this story apart from the other stories we have become accustomed to from this author is the presence of angels - creatures that observe and sometimes try to change these building blocks of our everyday lives for the better. Angels cannot interfere openly in our lives, they can try to nudge us towards a certain outcome. People can choose how they will live their lives. The angels merely try to help them understand that every moment is precious. The angels are not supernatural beings - they are an attempt to understand others, to feel empathy and to understand what is good in humanity. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (5)
Alice Nellis has delivered a skillfully shot absurdist Viewegh-esque substance with an equally absurd cast. At first glance, it works as a very mature endeavor. The Praguers enjoy less typical views of their homeland, and the cast is paradoxically compact (even Klára Melíšková is not as terrible as usual). However, the subject is really odd.
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The first half an hour was just torture. Boring, monotonous and lacking any attempt to suck the viewer in. But if you endure this boring part you will be quite well rewarded. The plot gains momentum and the sequence of events fly by beautifully till the very end. With funny situations here and there on top of that. I didn’t fall for the clutch of angels at first, but I gradually got used to them and in the end they turn out to be quite nice characters.
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It’s not a bad movie, even though I usually struggle with movie adaptations of Michal Viewegh’s books. However, this one did not bother me. On the contrary, I liked the realistic part of the movie, dominated by both Klára Melíšková and Boleslav Polívka, and the abstract part of it in the form of angels, who are more or less just observing. I don’t know the original book and after watching this film I don’t even intend to read it. On the other hand, I have to admit that Alice Nellis clearly did a great job filming it. Some moments were really interesting, and I thought that I don’t usually see moments like that in Czech movies. However, it was worse with the overly complicated finale, which I don’t mind with other films of this type, but here it bordered on absurd. You usually picture angels in some way, but I could never imagine that they would make a deal like they did here. Well, now I can.
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I liked it despite all the issues that I could look for (and find). High-quality acting performances by almost everyone involved (especially Bolek Polívka and Klara Melíšková), believable emotions and sentiment on the edge, skillful direction and excellent music by Michal Novinski, undoubtedly the most talented contemporary (Czecho)Slovak film music composer. The message of the film is: live, live, live, and don't waste your time on stupid things when you don't know how long it will last. I agree.
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It almost seems like this movie by Alice Nellis was inspired by Wings of Desire, but attempted to make it more accessible to audiences, akin to City of Angels (a remake of the former). In the end, however, the film turned out to have a few well-acted characters here and there but overall suffers from being boring, where in the end you realize it's actually about nothing.
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