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One of the last truly remarkable roles of Gérard Depardieu, who later ruined his reputation by not being able to say no, not only when offered something to eat. He took any role in obvious flops. Vatel is an elaborate costume drama set during the reign of the Sun King Louis XIV. Some mistakenly consider Vatel primarily a love story between Vatel and a charming court lady, but that is rather a side story. The main role is played by the question of where the limit is, at which subordination to authority causes a person to lose all self-respect. How far is it necessary to bow down to the tyranny of the more powerful? On one side stands the powerful ruler, on the other the one who refuses to be an object that can be lost in a game of cards. This movie directly emanates what the revolution in the US and especially in France opposed. Louis XIV, portrayed here as a self-indulgent bungler, was much more than just an extravagant despot. He was a prominent politician who made France the most significant continental power, very hardworking, with a strategic way of thinking. Expensive palace construction, pompous festivities, and ostentatious performances were rather meant to increase France's glory than an end in and of themselves. The film shows the dark side of life at the court, where everyone tried to gain the favor of the ruler at any cost and keep it. With its generous budget, it is also a spectacle, simply a film that can convey the luxury of the royal court with probably greater splendor than it actually had. Overall impression: 80%.

The strength of Worlds Apart lies both in the theme of the clash between the religious view of the world, which is governed by rigid rules formed in ancient history and does not respect the changing society, and the feelings of a teenage girl who must come to terms with her awakening sexuality and the realization that there is a world outside of her religious community, a more diverse, freer, and more tempting world. However, tasting its fruits means risking being expelled from the environment that has been your background so far and losing the favor of the closest family members and friends. Another advantage is the casting of the main role. Rosalinde Mynster is a flexible and capable enough actress to make one believe in her position as an emotionally confused pubescent girl as well as a devoted daughter who wants to live up to her family commitments. Moreover, she is also sympathetic, so the viewer stands on her side, for her to suffer as little harm as possible in the inevitable clash. The film emphasizes well-known controversial points in the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, it is necessary to emphasize that in terms of their impact on the public, they have always been more dangerous, for example, than the followers of Father Moon with their tactic of bombarding with love, and above all, dozens of small covertly operating sects, such as the case of the followers of Imanuel Parsifal here. The recruitment tactics of new flock, as practiced by Jehovah's Witnesses, are not very effective. On the other hand, if they really differ from the followers of traditional Christian churches in something fundamental, it is the zeal of their members and their determination to live consistently by their beliefs. Overall impression: 75%. The film deserved a stronger ending.

Those who know Robert Redford's life trajectory know well the important role that civic engagement and political activism play in his life and value system, in terms of protecting human rights and independent critical media, and above all, sympathizing with ordinary people on the street. Redford is one of the relics of the social and creative atmosphere of the 70s. Lions for Lambs is not a war or psychological film, but distinctively political. Three locations alternate in it more or less evenly - the office of an influential senator who tries to manipulate a well-known journalist to popularize the government's plan to expand military operations in Afghanistan. The second is the office of a university professor who has a dispute with a student about his passive approach to studying and the world around him. The highlight of the film lies precisely in these scenes, where conflicts of ideas and attitudes take place. The third location is situated in the high mountains of distant Afghanistan, where the lives of two soldiers surrounded by Taliban fighters are at stake. This part serves as a dynamic adrenaline-filled insert into an otherwise rather intimate film based on dialogue. Redford is stirring up the public: the media has been tamed and the younger generation has withdrawn from public life into the realm of consumerism and entertainment. Lions for Lambs is a good, decently cast, and intelligent film, perhaps only somewhat predictable and less remarkable. Overall impression: 75%.

American cinema often doesn't invite you to this society. The husband is a slacker and a player, the distrainor doesn't know what to take, a miserable job without prospects, and the goal of getting a decent roof over your head is out of reach. Then one fateful encounter comes along with an offer to improve a joyless life when the price is just a few hours of fear while driving over a frozen river. The nearby border offers a decent opportunity for extra income for clever smugglers, especially when the nearby Indian reservation offers a seemingly safe hideout. However, the pitcher goes to the water so many times that the handle breaks... Frozen River is not a film made for effect, it has the appearance of a typical independent American film, and popcorn movie lovers may rightly feel dissatisfied. Frozen River could have become one of the many routine crime thrillers. Instead, a psychological drama about the unique relationship between two women from different cultural backgrounds and their clash with the law was created. Melissa Leo's convincing performance ensures the film's four-star rating. Overall impression: 75%.

Forget about a travel agency because this is a completely different kind of trip with a completely different motivation for its participants. The goal here is not relaxation, desire for knowledge, or adventure. The participants of the trip are victims of the local value system and traditions, and they are unhappy, unproductive, and unnecessary. To save face (which is the most important from a social perspective in Asian society), they bought a ticket for a journey that is supposed to solve all their problems. They go toward their destiny with the sound of karaoke and determination on their faces. If you expect a geyser of jokes and silly remarks, forget about it. This is not a comedy in the usual sense of the word, but rather a tragicomedy where humor stems from the absurdity of what is seen and from the confrontation with a typically Japanese way of thinking. Interesting, provocative, and in some parts uncomfortably relevant to the world. Overall impression: 85%.

Natálie grew up in an orphanage and her forced marriage is actually a continuation of her miserable adolescence. It is as limiting as the strict regime of an institution so when her husband unexpectedly dies of a heart attack, she takes it as a gift from fate and liberation. She dreams of a new life, of children, and various hopes. However, life does not bring as much happiness in the remote wilderness, where foxes say goodnight, as she would imagine. Travelling with Pets is a typical Russian film, very lyrical, slow, and emotional, where capturing the beautiful deserted nature and the poverty of the Russian countryside plays an important role. The film features minimalistic dialogue and an excellent performance by Kseniya Kutepova. Overall impression: 80%.

The Wackness is not a film that sticks in your memory because of thrilling scenes or even uncompromising action. However, it is interesting given its gloomy melancholic mood, spiced up with gentle irony and humor. It is a movie about eternal social outsiders who don't fit into the usual patterns of consumer society. A non-conformist young man, who is more or less indifferent to the values of the majority society and successfully earns his living by selling soft drugs, and his psychiatrist, who seems spiritually lost in the flower power movement of the 60s, are indeed very different in age, but their shared alienation, solitude, and heightened empathy lead them toward mutual closeness and the formation of friendship. It is a movie about finding ways to reconcile with oneself and the surrounding world and to fully experience life within the possibilities that life brings us. Besides having an interesting soundtrack, the film also offers the traditionally marvelous Ben Kingsley and an atmosphere that is hard to describe, but it is nice to watch. Overall impression: 75%.

The stories in Tales of the Black Freighter are extremely expressive and full of anger, hatred, blood, and darkness. They are about the desperate plight of a man whose friends and loved ones have been murdered, and on his journey of revenge, only dead companions and his own thoughts accompany him, thoughts that have gone beyond reason in the desire for revenge. I see it as a separate film, not connected to the comic. Still, it is highly interesting, albeit also morbid. Overall impression: 80%.

The Vietnamese War is one of the most frequently discussed topics in American cinema and has many famous, even legendary titles to its credit. Hamburger Hill cannot even come close to them, as none of the directors who are considered a guarantee of quality entertainment by film fans sat in the director's chair, and there are no famous names among the actors either. The budget was not dazzling by genre standards, and there was no indication that more than a mediocre film with a cliché theme would emerge. The first third of the film really only shows what we have seen many times before. But as the soldiers penetrate deeper into the jungle and, above all, slowly climb up the increasingly steep slope and as the resistance of the determined enemy increases every hour, the main strengths of the film become more and more apparent. Realism and authenticity. Exhausted soldiers bombarded by tropical downpours and enemy fire, tons of mud, inaccessible terrain where heavy machinery is useless, blood, sweat, dirt, fear, and desperation. Determination clashes with determination, strength crushes strength. The ideological framework in which Hamburger Hill operates is interesting. At first glance, the film has an anti-war nature as it portrays the horrors of war and dying. At the same time, though not intrusively, it clearly plays on American patriotism. The army is a community where racial and class differences are blurred, the bond that creates a true nation. While here, people die for American ideals, at home, they happily demonstrate, party, and fornicate. For our taxes and our blood. Overall impression: 70%.

I'm sad to say that in this less than a quarter-hour film there is more artistic courage and originality than in the whole production of Walt Disney's studio until the creation of this work, which resigns from any superficial attractiveness. It is an interesting variation on the theme of marital stereotypes in a society not yet affected by female emancipation. I get the feeling that in modern society, women also successfully contribute to the destruction of works. Overall impression: 75%.