Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

My Sweet Little Village
Directed by Jiri Menzel
Hens Tooth Video 1986 DVD/VHS Feature Film
Not Rated

David Byrne (True Stories) and a host of other American directors who have bungled attempts to convey on screen the pluses and minuses of community life ought to take a lesson from Jiri Menzel. This colorful, warm-hearted, and endearing Czech film — similar to the director's 1966 hit Closely Watched Trains — offers a wryly tender portrait of life in a small Czech village. Among the idiosyncratic characters are a beefy truck driver and his gawky, shy assistant who is mentally retarded; a doctor who loves poetry, dispenses folk wisdom to his patients, and consistently crashes his cars; an adulterous couple who find clever ways to rendezvous; a lovesick teenager who has a crush on his sibling's teacher; a Bohemian painter who is attached to the past; and several politicians who want to protect their privileges. My Sweet Little Village is funny, sad, and thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. Bravo!

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat