Directed by:
David OndříčekScreenplay:
Petr ZelenkaCinematography:
Richard ŘeřichaComposer:
Jan P. MuchowCast:
Labina Mitevska, Jitka Schneiderová, Saša Rašilov nejml., Jiří Macháček, Ivan Trojan, Mikuláš Křen, Dana Sedláková, Hana Maciuchová, František Němec (more)Plots(1)
A story about the shifting friendships between a group of twentysomething Prague residents. Hustler Robert earns a living working for a travel agency arranging trips for Japanese tourists. But while trying to win over recent emigre Vesna, he begins to interfere with the love lives of his other friends, upsetting their current relationships and instigating new ones. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (8)
It's an artificial product, far removed from what I know from real life, and although I can't exclude that similar types of people exist somewhere, I definitely haven't encountered them. I don't deny the film's entertainment value, although the characters are so "cool" and deliver such unbelievable lines that they are unsympathetic to me. As a generational statement, it doesn't hold up for me at all, but otherwise, Loners is somewhere between two and three stars for me. Overall impression: 45%.
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Loners impresses at first glance with its (almost) short story plot structure that seems to evoke overseas filmmaking, helped by the choice of soundtrack and the play with imagery, but for most of the running time I felt the film was superficial and didn't really get down to the nitty gritty, at least on a dramatic level. The comic moments were mainly (and quite possibly only) provided by the permanently stoned Jiří Macháček, whose performance was rightly awarded the Czech Lion. Ivan Trojan didn't really fit the role of the crazed stalker and the line with the Japanese was completely out of place. Given its cult status and high ratings, I was expecting something more from Loners.
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This is a film that has supposedly become a generational statement. But I must add for myself that it was not communicated to me then or now. The forcibly inserted elements of UFOs, stoners, and the Japanese bring only empty dead ends and once again we are left with the classic "they parted at the beginning and reunited at the end" arc. Where is the added value? I suppose that the young people of that time were not particularly enthusiastic about either the Germans or Maciuchová. So, in summary, the Prague atmosphere and the La Casa blů bar are once again the best things about it for me.
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Petr Zelenka and David Ondříček proved that even here you can build a cult following during the actual premiere, to which a perfect soundtrack from Jan P. Muchow and the gala presentation of the acting trio Jiří Macháček-Ivan Trojan-Saša Rašilov contributed the most. In order for the lines to continue being quoted for two decades from a movie made in the third millennium requires not just luck, but also a bit of talent.
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One of the best Czech films, which wonderfully explores what a person actually wants to achieve in life. The characters mostly don't know, and if they do, they achieve it in a way that further alienates them. Society's values are changing, and we don't understand them, just as we don't understand what we're actually doing. Funny, but very painful.
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