Vyšehrad: Fylm

An absolute comedic treasure that stomps most Czech film production into the grass with its high-heels. I don't particularly appreciate the football references (after all, I'm not really a fan of that sport), but the rest is a thoughtful play with cliches, which, in this case, means a wild ride and full throttle in every aspect. Of course, sometimes it misses the mark completely, but Štáfek and Kopp extracted the best from the first episodes of the series, avoided the tragedy of its ending, and in a mode of "everything more, louder and noisier," they serve up a wild and nonsensical gem, but they sing that ode to one primitive character with such grace and ease that I forgive them for a few errors. PS: Štáfek parked himself so magnificently in that role that I'll have trouble seeing him in anything else, but in dialogues with the junior from that role, he completely falls behind. (12/18/2023)

The series worked much better for me. Turning Vyšehrad into a cohesive story doesn’t seem like the best idea. The original work functioned perfectly as separate 20-minute sketches. And my concerns were realized. Sure, Jakub Štáfek and Martin Kopp still kept it under control, so the final product offers a certain level of quality, but... I’m especially disappointed that the abundance of jokes often crosses the line. Some might consider it an absolute masterpiece, but the frequent sexual innuendos and excessive eroticism didn’t quite work for me. The most successful aspect was the casting of Lavi’s son, where the fun really hits the mark (especially the contrast between the little boy’s cleverness and the main soccer player’s utter stupidity). The cameos were also well done. So, it’s above average for a Czech film, but I can imagine it could have climbed a few rungs higher in terms of quality. It's a shame. For me, it’s 6/10. (09/20/2022)

A specific microclimate, where it often rains and everywhere is filled with carp, cockroaches, and nonsense on the brain. While it works splendidly as a satirical portrayal of the Czech football scene (I wonder if Rosa knew the context of his role), it unnecessarily sticks to the formula of sports-family films. Lavi has time for this after he fulfills most of George Best’s quotes and stocks shelves at the Vyšehrad supermarket. That is, if his liver allows for it. (12/29/2022)

Simple entertainment for fans of Czech cinema and Vyšehrad, I don't see anything more in this film, although I try. The humour is occasionally fine, but what spoiled the experience for me was the firstly it slides very often to primitive, faecal humour with only jokes about sex and secondly that the film follows the classic template of similar "comedies": a funny development - collision - sad part and happy ending. It's as if the film is afraid to be its own thing. Compared to Jackpot, I have to say that at least the humour in that was great in places, but here it often missed the mark widely... (09/09/2022)

If I stick to the primitive level of this masterpiece, I must write that it is a awful nonsense. The only thing that amused me was the scene in which Lavi hung up his soccer boots. The filmmakers certainly cannot be denied a good knowledge of the soccer world, but I have a persistent feeling that the overabundance of obscenities, vulgarities and strong, boorish humor just kills everything. (35%) (05/14/2023)