Tag Archives: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Michaela Pavlatova’s ‘Night Owls”

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Czech filmmaker Michaela Pavlatova’s “Night Owls” (Deti noci) tells of a young woman who works the late shift at her family’s convenience store in Prague but dreams of a better life. A … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: ‘The Investigator’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Talky, quirky and full of inventive moments, Hungarian director Gigor Attila’s noir send-up “The Investigator” pitches a hired killer into a quest to discover the identity of the man he was paid … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Petr Zelenka’s ‘The Karamazovs’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Fyodor Dostoevski’s classic Russian novel about four brothers divided by the murder of their father forms the basis of Petr Zelenka’s “The Karamazovs,” which is a film about a play based on … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Aleksey Uchitel’s ‘Captive’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Shot in ferocious conditions and told with harsh economy, Aleksey Uchitel’s hard-as-nails little war picture “Captive” gives a pointed snapshot of how men in combat tend to extreme behavior. High in the … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Ed Gass-Donnelly’s ‘This Beautiful City’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Stark and inventive, Ed Gass-Donnelly’s “This Beautiful City” compares and interlinks the lives of a middle-class couple and a pair of down-and-out drug users all suffering from inner-city angst. Boasting superior performances … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Henrik Ruben Genz’s ‘Terribly Happy’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Set in an insular community on the windswept plains of southern Denmark, Henrik Ruben Genz’s “Terribly Happy” plays like a modern-day Western with a solitary lawman squaring off against corrupt townsfolk. It’s … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Nan T. Achnas’s ‘The Photograph’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Singapore-born director Nan T. Achnas’s tender and contemplative drama “The Photograph” tells of an ailing picture taker determined to find a successor before he dies and the sympathetic trollop who becomes an … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Vladimir Michalek’s ‘Of Parents and Children’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – An ageing and cantankerous father and his devoted but conflicted son chat, argue, drink, reminisce and rehash old differences while strolling through Prague in Czech director Vladimir Michalek’s rewarding drama “Of Parents … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Sam Karmann’s ‘True Enough’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Set to an engaging jazz beat, Sam Karmann’s French treat “True Enough” is a wise and witty riff on the perils of infidelity full of droll playing and memorable lines. Shrewd and … Continue reading

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KVIFF FILM REVIEW: Anna Friel in ‘Bathory’

By Ray Bennett KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – Legend has it that Countess Elizabeth Bathory was a murdering monster, the scourge of 16th century Europe, slaughtering virgin girls by the score and bathing in their blood in order to stay … Continue reading

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