KOLYA /Kolja (1996)

Thursday / 8th June 2006 / 20:00

Czech Republic, Great Britain, France / 1996 / 108 minutes / director: Jan Sverak / screenplay: Zdenek Sverak / cinematography: Vladimir Smutny / editing: Alois Fisarek / music: Ondrej Soukup / cast: Zdenek Sverak (Frantisek Louka), Andrej Chalimon (Kolya), Libuse Safrankova (Klara), Ondrej Vetchy (Broz), Nela Boudova (Brozova) /

It is always problematic to say about a film that it is nice. Nice films have difficult position. They are often accused of emotional blackmail and of overdoing scenes. Kolya proves that even nice films can work with melodramatic stereotypes and clichés without being embarrassing.

Kolya could be seen as a Dickensian story on a boy whose mother had to leave him in a foreign country with a strange man and who tries to find her at any costs. However, it isn´t only about a boy and surely it isn´t about finding someone´s mother. Throughout his long and successful career Zdenek Sverak has developed a unique sense for credible stories and characters. His screenplays are usually bitter comedies and Kolya is just another perfect example - no matter how witty it is, it doesn´t hide sentimental atmosphere and the unpleasant aspect of the times in which the story is set (some scenes can make Czechs cry rather than anything else, especially the one where Louka is interrogated by the police). Although there was a danger that the screenplay could end in making fun of cultural differences between the Soviets and Czechoslovaks and the inability of mutual understanding, both Sveraks were awared of this and decided to avoid the easy way.

Kolya is a deserved success of a work of the father and son duo. Jan Sverak proved that with Elementary School he wasn´t just lucky. Kolya definitely deserved its Oscar. Not only for its sentimental story, but for its sophisticated play with melodramatic stereotypes.

Štefan Titka