The House (I) (2011) User Reviews

Surprise – no one is as they seem.

[hudsonwa · 8/10 · 24 May 2011]

Dom | The House Director: Zuzana Liová Slovak Republic, Czech Republic 2011

Cast: Judit Bárdos (Eva), Miroslav Krobot (Imrich), Marián Mitaš (Jakub), Taťjana Medvecká (Viera), Lucia Jašková (Jana), Marek Geišberg (Milan), Ester Geislerová (Hana)

Eva is the jewel of the village. Church organist, smartest student in the high school. Altogether, too beautiful, too smart for this place.

Money is a problem. When Eva takes a bath, her father Imrich asks "Who's going to pay for all that water?"

But it isn't just money. "Why not just take a leash and tie her to the house?" her mother Viera asks him, in frustration.

Imrich is building Eva a house, stealing bricks from the house he started building for Eva's older sister Jana, who he has broken with, after she got herself involved with a man in the village with whom she now has three children. (Long-held family grudges.)

Neighbors used to help in this work, but now they want money. Money is changing the society, challenging the absolute rule of patriarchy. So Imrich relies on Eva to help him build her house, a prison.

Surprise – no one is as they seem.

The cast is superb. Judit Bárdos makes an indelible, luminous film debut.

Slovanian cinéaste Zuzana Liová extracts excellent performances from Miroslav Krobot and Judit Bárdos in a film about a house.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 10/10 · 2 May 2013]

What would human beings do if they do not have a roof over their heads in the form of a house ? All human beings regardless of how much they earn long for their own houses as it is through their houses that they are able to assess their identities.These are some key points expressed in Slovenian film "Dom".It is a nice film for families in which the universal significance of a house is marvelously depicted by Slovanian director Zuzana Liová. Her début film shows us that a house is not merely made up of bricks and cement but also of people who live in it.Although a large part of this film concentrates about the hardships faced by an old man regarding the actual construction of his house,what appeals the viewers most is the manner in which this background is used to depict another pertinent theme :lives of ordinary people especially lives of youngsters and their quest for their roots.Actors Miroslav Krobot and Judit Bárdos are honest in their representation of two different aspects of a family which would like to be united at all costs despite various apparent obstacles.Film critic Lalit Rao got the chance to watch this film at Alliance Française de Bangalore where it was screened as part of 18th European Union Film Festival in India.