The often uncomfortable bonds of family intersect with the wary political and social allegiances of the Czech Republic following the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and the end of Soviet occupation in this drama from director Jan Hrebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovsky. Goran and Milan (Zdenek Suchy and Jan Budar) are criminals who, while ferrying a truckload of illegal aliens into the Czech Republic, discover that one of their cargo has misplaced a baby; looking to turn a profit wherever they can,
they sell the lost child to Lubos and Eman (Marek Daniel and Pavel Liska), two petty thieves who run a black-market adoption agency. Among Lubos and Eman's clients are Miluska and Frantisek (Natasa Burger and Jiri Machacek), a barren and lonely couple who are unable to adopt due to Frantisek's criminal record, which amounts to a bout of drunken foolishness during a soccer game. Meanwhile, Martin Horecky (Petr Forman) is a Czech expatriate living in Australia who comes home for a visit following the death of his father, who abandoned the family before Martin was born. Circumstances prove not to be especially welcoming for Martin; his mother (Emilia Vasaryova), who has become poisoned with race hate, invites two guests for his homecoming dinner, a half-sister he's never met (Kristyna Liska-Bokova) and her mother, who was once Martin's girlfriend (Ingrid Timkova). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The movie asks us to see these people as humans and to forgive them for being human and doing to each other what humans beings do to each other. It's a deeply humane film.
Høebejk claims inspiration from the likes of Mike Leigh and Woody Allen, and that can be seen in the surety of the characters, brought to life by an able cast that includes former Czech president Václav Havel.
A sprawling comedy-drama that actually tries to say something -- not just about its characters, but about the Czech Republic and what it's turned into since becoming a capitalistic society.
Hrebejk suggests, through this tragi-comic film, that while things are rough now, they've got to get better. I mean, they can't get much worse, can they?
Hrebejk's stylish direction and perfectly chosen cast make what might otherwise have been a depressing tale of post-perestroika working class woes into a melancholy, comedic riff on what it means to be European these days.
"Up and Down" is a movie from the Czech Republic which starts out with two truck drivers smuggling a group of illegal refugees across the border. In a rush to get everybody out of the truck, a baby is left behind. The baby is sold to a couple in desperate need of a child. Meanwhile, a university professor collapses
during a lecture. While in hospital, his current family learns about his previous family he abandoned years before, including a son who emigrated to Australia. "Up and Down" is about immigration and emigration and how the people of the Czech Republic have responded to it. Sometimes, the differences across a dinner table can be striking - the professor's first wife is a virulent racist while his second wife works with refugee groups. "Up and Down" is an intelligent, thoughtful, well-acted movie, even if some of the scenes do go on too long.
March 20, 2005
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
A very interesting film based on dysfunction and racial tension. I also enjoyed the acting very much. It was a very serious story, but had humor and jokes throughout that were pulled off well.
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