poetry
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The Tree Series [drawings]
Here in the Czech Republic, many have been in lockdown, getting used to very limited movement, to passing identical sights, the restricted space providing a lesser variety of objects to explore. My fixation over the last few weeks has been on trees and branches; there is something soothing in drawing a tree, albeit a wayward,…
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Krajina ve stínu/ Shadow Country (2020)
Krajina ve stínu (Shadow Country). Czech Republic, 2020, 135 min. Directed by Bohdan Sláma, written by Ivan Arsenyev. Main cast: Magdaléna Borová, Stanislav Majer, Petra Špalková, Csongor Kassai, Pavel Nový, Cyril Drozda, Barbora Poláková. An ambitious, risk-taking film and a hot contender for a number of local awards. Which is not saying much, but it’s…
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By Our Selves (2015): Toby Jones channelling John Clare in an exceptional documentary
UK, 2015. Documentary/ drama. Directed by Edward Kötting. With Toby Jones, Freddie Jones, Edward Kötting, Iain Sinclair, Alan Moore, Eden Kötting. By Our Selves glances upon John Clare (1793–1864), a major poet of the English fields and forests, of solitude and loss. Channelled by the speechless Toby Jones and his father Freddie, the poet walks…
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David Lynch, Kristine McKenna: Room to Dream
A compelling crossover between a biography and a memoir, Room to Dream makes no attempts to explain Lynch’s films and, thankfully, stays largely clear of drawing clear-cut connections between his life experiences and the motifs present in his work. In its dual narrative – each chapter in Lynch’s life being presented first by the biographer,…
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P.F. 2021–2038
(Since the Czech Committee on coal and energy has recently decided to postpone the target of carbon neutrality to 2038, we are forced to withstand many years of intensive pollution from coal-fired power plants.)
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Calm with Horses (2019): A Social Realist Thriller
UK/Ireland (Film4/Element Pictures/Screen Ireland), 2019. Directed by Nick Rowland, written by Joe Murtagh (based on the short story by Colin Barrett). Main cast: Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Niamh Algar, Liam Carney, David Wilmomt, Ned Dennehy. Calm with Horses puts us in the shoes of Douglas, an ex-boxer, now the muscle of a small, brutal criminal…
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On the P-Word and Crisis Mismanagement
Populism has been the buzzword of Czech politics for quite some time. Coming into prominence in the late 2000s, it has been used as an efficient instrument for bashing socialist governments for irresponsible spending (“bribing” voters) and later became a synonym for likeable, simplified and often confrontational political rhetoric and policies that might bring short-term…
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Bait (2019): A Constrained Celebration of Filmmaking
UK, 2019. Written, directed, filmed, edited, music composed by Mark Jenkin. Cast: Edward Rowe, Giles King, Chloe Endean, Mary Woodvine, Isaac Woodvine, Simon Shepherd. Mark Jenkin’s seemingly modest drama Bait has managed to attract a great deal of attention of both critics and the “indie” audience. As a film shot on 16 mm in 4:3…