Crimen en el teatro

"It's ilerelevere... ilere... ilereve... ile... It’s nonsense!" The humor may be too dry, but it is there; the satire may be too obvious, but it is also there - and it is appropriately barbed. Thanks to Josef Škvorecký, both got into the script, and thanks to Jiří Suchý, into the lyrics of the song. I simply like Crime in the Night Club and it's not just my love for Semafor. All the moments and snapshots that are in it, the duel between Jiří Šlitr and Zdeněk Svěrák in the courtroom, Jan Libíček breaking down the door, Eva Pilarová singing at the end... Moreover, the scene with the last wish and the final song “Balada pod šibenicí" is one of the best Jiří Menzel ever made. (11.11.2015)

Crime in the Night Club is a classic 1960s hodgepodge. Under the influence of a certain mood, the Škvorecký / Menzel authorial team, the Suchý / Šlitr authorial-interpretive team, performers Grossmann / Smoljak / Svěrák, and Pilarová singing (plus a number of other disparate faces of the time) all came together on one film. According to Menzel, it was supposed to be another crime film written by Škvorecký, this time in a retro version in the style of Martin Frič. On paper, the idea remained halfway between the Lieutenant Borůvka films, which never became a trilogy. Well, that didn't work. Regardless Suchý was grateful for having another film for the people. The withdrawal from movie theaters was primarily due to Škvorecký's emigration, and some people would like to believe that this failed crime drama could perhaps be considered provocative. However, not everything from the golden sixties has to be considered genius. (16.02.2009)

A film that it’s interesting for the original concept with which it criticises Socialism, but that mixes several genres and tedious musical numbers that grind and bore. Menzel hits the spot with some funny scenes and all the actors are well cast (especially Libíček and the debuting Svěrák), but the overstuffed result is annoying rather than smart. However, as an attempt to blend the new wave and the films of Oldřich Lipský, interesting… (07.11.2018)

It is amusing to read the incomprehensible criticism here about "failed crime movie" and "weak comedy". Škvorecký and Suchý were after something completely different. This film is a critique of a regime that bends law and justice to suit itself, which is especially evident in the last act, where it completely switches genres. And we should take into account the era in which it was made: the tense time of the autumn of 1968, in the fearful anticipation of things to come (purges in artistic circles, forced emigration), which is bloody evident in the result. That's why the humour often misses the mark, the actors are clueless and the slightly gloomy atmosphere of a funeral home pervades the film. But thanks for the nice songs and Eva Pilarová, who looks really hot here. (16.10.2013)