Well, there is a certain brand of movies written explicitly for a single actor -- or pair of actors -- to showcase their talents. The movie star's name here is Milo Kopecký -- one of the most beloved of Czech comedic actors of any time. Possibly a choleric person in his own right -- and perhaps also due to that, suffering from heavy depressions in his real life. Would there have been anyone more qualified to play a choleric person on the Czech big screen? Definitely not -- Kopecký is *the* person to do that, and so his friend, director and screenwriter Petr Schulhoff, wrote this movie for Kopecký directly; can you say "tailor-made"?
Just as Kopecký was brilliant as an actor, he was controversial as a (public) person: first, in the early 1970s, he lent his talents to the Communist propaganda regime in a series of despicable "documentaries" -- only to make a sharp U-turn in the late 1980s, and deliver one of the most famous and memorable anti-regime speeches, illicitly disseminated across Czechoslovakia, as official media would not dare to broadcast it. This was *well* before the 1989 "Velvet Revolution", so Kopecký was putting his career at stake by speaking up.
_I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_ is the English translation of the strange movie title -- but not strange for the director Petr Schulhoff, as he apparently revelled in exactly this type of convoluted titles used for his 1970s comedies. There is something of a separate genre in the Czech 1970s movie-making: "normalisation comedies" -- a derogatory title denoting the era of what the hard-line Communist regime back then termed "normalisation" -- in their Newspeak, this signified a retreat from Czechoslovakia's democratic tendencies of the late 1960s.
What, then, was there for the film-makers to do? If you were especially brave, like the actor Vlasta Chramostová, you could openly declare your disapproval of the regime -- and be severely punished for it; Chramostová disappeared both from the big screen and the theatrical stage for 20 years, until the regime was toppled in late 1989. Another option was to flee Czechoslovakia for the West. Most movie-making artists in Czechoslovakia of the 1970s, however, opted for "reluctant cooperation" with the regime: neither did they openly oppose it, nor did they (if they could avoid it) promote it in their works.
This is where "normalisation comedies" come in; the 1970s may -- perverse though it may seem -- be called the "Golden Era" of Czech comedy. Many unforgettable comedy gems, such as the Vorlíček and Macourek classics, were produced in this era. They frequently dealt with the magical, fantasy, or were ostensibly aimed at a "kids'" audience. "Anything but relevant political or social topics, please!" Critics of "normalisation comedies" therefore slam them as "escapes from reality". Were they? Perhaps they were -- but that does not make the finest from among "normalisation comedies" any less brilliant than they are.
An unrealistic aspect of this particular "normalisation comedy" is that it strives hard to portray a star actor as "one of us". The underlying message -- ringing false -- seems to be: star actors are just like any other people. And so, we see Kopecký shopping in an ordinary supermarket; eating in an ordinary canteen; riding on an ordinary train (at least it was first class!); or sharing his telephone line with his regular-joe neighbours.
Does _I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_ attain the heights of the greatest Vorlíček and Macourek, or Jindřich Polák comedies? Definitely not. Perhaps this is because Petr Schulhoff was not originally a director (let alone writer) of comedies; he was best-known in the 1960s for his dark murder mysteries. With a new political era came an abrupt change in Schulhoff's artistic focus -- and the results were not always convincing.
Kopecký, naturally, is brilliant here. No one could thrive in this role as much as he does. He can transform himself from a kindly middle-aged man into a raving lunatic within seconds -- while, mysteriously, remaining perfectly "consistent", "integral" while doing so. The way Kopecký could control the nuances of his voice at all times, to lend credibility to all of his outbursts or (conflicting) emotions, is amazing.
Kopecký is not the only top-rated star in _I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_. In a role not dissimilar to Clarence the angel in _It's a Wonderful Life_, Ladislav Peek (the "Grandpa" from the movie title) entertains in his final film role in a career spanning many decades dating back to before WW2. Another veteran virtuoso has a small but memorable double role here: Frantiek Filipovský as a psychiatric doctor *and* road sweeper; Filipovský as the genius actor flawlessly portrays both. Whenever Filipovský gapes with his mouth open, *you* and everyone in the audience will gape along with him: that's how convincing he was, regardless of the situation. The enraged confrontation between Kopecký and Filipovský, in a street full of amused passers-by, is perhaps *the* highlight of the movie.
_I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_ is interesting in drawing parallels between Kopecký's leading character and that in Molière's _The Misanthrope_: Kopecký plays an actor *who plays* the Misanthrope on a theatrical stage. So, we get to enjoy a number of extended scenes showing rehearsals of Molière's dialogues.
While Kopecký dazzles in this movie, and is superbly assisted by Filipovský and Peek among others (notably a host of prominent Czech female actors), the screenplay and plot are far from exceptional. Kopecký literally carries everything on his shoulders here -- imagine a less accomplished actor in the role, and the movie would likely have been a flop. Some scenes are so artificial as to be painful to watch: I especially disliked the *too* zany Václav Lohniský, portraying a film director struggling on the movie set. Also, the ending, with everyone joyfully shouting the movie title from a balcony, seemed rather forced and unnatural.
Just as Kopecký was brilliant as an actor, he was controversial as a (public) person: first, in the early 1970s, he lent his talents to the Communist propaganda regime in a series of despicable "documentaries" -- only to make a sharp U-turn in the late 1980s, and deliver one of the most famous and memorable anti-regime speeches, illicitly disseminated across Czechoslovakia, as official media would not dare to broadcast it. This was *well* before the 1989 "Velvet Revolution", so Kopecký was putting his career at stake by speaking up.
_I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_ is the English translation of the strange movie title -- but not strange for the director Petr Schulhoff, as he apparently revelled in exactly this type of convoluted titles used for his 1970s comedies. There is something of a separate genre in the Czech 1970s movie-making: "normalisation comedies" -- a derogatory title denoting the era of what the hard-line Communist regime back then termed "normalisation" -- in their Newspeak, this signified a retreat from Czechoslovakia's democratic tendencies of the late 1960s.
What, then, was there for the film-makers to do? If you were especially brave, like the actor Vlasta Chramostová, you could openly declare your disapproval of the regime -- and be severely punished for it; Chramostová disappeared both from the big screen and the theatrical stage for 20 years, until the regime was toppled in late 1989. Another option was to flee Czechoslovakia for the West. Most movie-making artists in Czechoslovakia of the 1970s, however, opted for "reluctant cooperation" with the regime: neither did they openly oppose it, nor did they (if they could avoid it) promote it in their works.
This is where "normalisation comedies" come in; the 1970s may -- perverse though it may seem -- be called the "Golden Era" of Czech comedy. Many unforgettable comedy gems, such as the Vorlíček and Macourek classics, were produced in this era. They frequently dealt with the magical, fantasy, or were ostensibly aimed at a "kids'" audience. "Anything but relevant political or social topics, please!" Critics of "normalisation comedies" therefore slam them as "escapes from reality". Were they? Perhaps they were -- but that does not make the finest from among "normalisation comedies" any less brilliant than they are.
An unrealistic aspect of this particular "normalisation comedy" is that it strives hard to portray a star actor as "one of us". The underlying message -- ringing false -- seems to be: star actors are just like any other people. And so, we see Kopecký shopping in an ordinary supermarket; eating in an ordinary canteen; riding on an ordinary train (at least it was first class!); or sharing his telephone line with his regular-joe neighbours.
Does _I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_ attain the heights of the greatest Vorlíček and Macourek, or Jindřich Polák comedies? Definitely not. Perhaps this is because Petr Schulhoff was not originally a director (let alone writer) of comedies; he was best-known in the 1960s for his dark murder mysteries. With a new political era came an abrupt change in Schulhoff's artistic focus -- and the results were not always convincing.
Kopecký, naturally, is brilliant here. No one could thrive in this role as much as he does. He can transform himself from a kindly middle-aged man into a raving lunatic within seconds -- while, mysteriously, remaining perfectly "consistent", "integral" while doing so. The way Kopecký could control the nuances of his voice at all times, to lend credibility to all of his outbursts or (conflicting) emotions, is amazing.
Kopecký is not the only top-rated star in _I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_. In a role not dissimilar to Clarence the angel in _It's a Wonderful Life_, Ladislav Peek (the "Grandpa" from the movie title) entertains in his final film role in a career spanning many decades dating back to before WW2. Another veteran virtuoso has a small but memorable double role here: Frantiek Filipovský as a psychiatric doctor *and* road sweeper; Filipovský as the genius actor flawlessly portrays both. Whenever Filipovský gapes with his mouth open, *you* and everyone in the audience will gape along with him: that's how convincing he was, regardless of the situation. The enraged confrontation between Kopecký and Filipovský, in a street full of amused passers-by, is perhaps *the* highlight of the movie.
_I'll Be Good From Now On, Grandpa_ is interesting in drawing parallels between Kopecký's leading character and that in Molière's _The Misanthrope_: Kopecký plays an actor *who plays* the Misanthrope on a theatrical stage. So, we get to enjoy a number of extended scenes showing rehearsals of Molière's dialogues.
While Kopecký dazzles in this movie, and is superbly assisted by Filipovský and Peek among others (notably a host of prominent Czech female actors), the screenplay and plot are far from exceptional. Kopecký literally carries everything on his shoulders here -- imagine a less accomplished actor in the role, and the movie would likely have been a flop. Some scenes are so artificial as to be painful to watch: I especially disliked the *too* zany Václav Lohniský, portraying a film director struggling on the movie set. Also, the ending, with everyone joyfully shouting the movie title from a balcony, seemed rather forced and unnatural.
