Few things in life are as challenging as marriage and retirement. When these subjects are explored by a masterful director who casts his father - also the screenwriter - in the lead, you should expect a comedy of substance. With Empties you get precisely that.
Father and son Zdenek Sverák and Jan Sverák are well known as the Oscar winning team, who brought us Kolya. Now they are back with Empties, a film which we think is their best.
Empties main character Tkaloun (played by Zdenek Sverák) is a high-school literature professor who, one day realises that he no longer understands his pupils, and promptly quits teaching. This comes as a shock to Eli_ka (Daniela Kolá_ová), his wife of thirty years, who now has her cranky and peevish mate underfoot all day. When he accepts new work in a supermarket as clerk responsible for storing empty glass bottles, he finds (and shows us) that it is never too late for being kind to other people and for life itself.
Empties is charming, bittersweet, romantic and ultimately, you guessed it, very funny.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Audience Award & Special Mention
Dir. Jan Sverak - 2007 Czech Republic/UK - 100 mins Cert PG - Portobello Pictures
|
