There will be no beautiful views of the old city. There will be no palaces, museums, walks through narrow streets and a mysterious touch of history. It's not a sweet love story; it's a story about the destruction of life. Unconventional plot, unusual views of the city - those that are usually not shown.
The main character Christopher (played by the great actor Mads Mikkelsen) and his wife travel to Prague from another state to deal with the funeral of his father, whom he has not seen since the age of 15 and who left the family, leaving them without explanation. Now Christopher has to settle the formalities and collect the body for the funeral. And the removal of the body to another state is not an easy task, and during transportation it is lost, as comical as it sounds, and this makes the heroes stay longer in the city. In general, through the prism of everyday life and routine affairs, the director Ole Christian Madsen here subtly hints at the absurdity, comicality and emptiness of our lives. Everything seems right, full of meaning, but it can depreciate in a few days, and awareness, burning and devastating, comes suddenly, completely changing you and your life. Christopher, who now has a son of about the same age, will discover why his father left them as a child. And despite the “adulthood”, long-standing resentments live in us, finding no way out, and it is so sad to see people who have grown up, but forgot to grow up! It turns out that Christopher’s wife is cheating on him, and the meaning of life and family is very acute. Is separation so terrible and stupid when all circumstances lead to it?
The film has a hidden symbolism, a subtext that is interesting to unravel. Just as heroes rush in search of a missing body, we ourselves, living people, sometimes run around with our past – the dead past. And since we have nothing to do with him other than childish grievances, isn't it easier to let go and live a new life? The decision will come to the hero suddenly, but no matter how hard it is, I tend to think that this is the right decision.
Danish director Ole Christian Madsen has created a picture in which there is something to think about. Realizing your problems through the prism of visualization, as a therapist, you yourself become better and freer. It's not a sweet love story; it's a story about the destruction of life. And after the destruction, there is always rebirth, and there can be no other way. I wish there were more of them.
City of boredom. A cold, insensitive city. It consumes people like a black hole, preventing light from coming out. This is how I saw Prague. Outwardly, the sunny and cheerful city seemed like this.
The hero of M. Mikkelsen, a lawyer Christopher, who has not seen his father for 25 years, comes with his wife to Prague to fulfill the last will of his relatives - to take the body of his father and settle some formalities.
The whole film fits quietly into these two lines of the main plot of the film. Everything else does not need to be thought out or shown so that it goes not even to the second, but to the tenth plan.
A drama of human destinies? Yeah, idle talk in a hotel restaurant or cafe determines the course of events? Maybe Christopher and Maya's squabbles are hidden in subtle hints and meaningful views? No, I didn't see it, at least kill it.
Then what's the movie about? About changing the character of the characters or some fateful turn of events? What explains his unexpected decision at the airport before transporting the coffin? And the line with Alena? Yes, the enlightened majority will reproach me for not understanding the relationship between a man and a woman, difficulties in choosing and so on.
About the eternal theme of “fathers and children” recalls the final scene in the movie “Magnolia” with Tom Cruise, where the dialogue between father and son and loads the same gun, “shooting” in the climax. There is no such dialogue, no Hamletian "to be or not to be." Cold indifference, not justified by anything. I didn’t expect any remorse or biblical “the return of the prodigal son,” but I wanted that ray of hope and some compassion for the deceased father.
Speaking of actors, I can’t help but mention the performance of the Czech actress J. Plodkova. She must have been the living person among the cold statues that Mikkelsen and Stingade seemed to be. This is probably the only movie I didn’t like for the reasons mentioned above. It did not leave the feeling that I am watching a viscous cyberpunk like “Blade Runner”, where the characters are just as verbose and empty.
Summing up, I will say: yes, the film is specific, not rich in emotions, with magnificent views of Prague and good acting, but with a skinny semantic component. The film could have won if the director had added that same inner dialogue between father and son, albeit mentally.
Prague: There are foreign languages but no language to understand each other
Christopher and Maya travel from Denmark to Prague on a sad occasion. Christopher's father has died, his body must be taken home.
***
The drama Prague is a film from one of the key representatives of the new wave of Danish directors Ole Christian Madsen. He established himself in the early 2000s with the film “Love Story” (En kaerlighedshistorie), directed one of the largest productions ever made in Denmark about the Second World War Flammen & Citronen (2008). This gave him the opportunity to choose to work on films of any scale – from large to small budgets.
The story is at first glance simple. And that's the thing. Because according to the plan of the director, it is important to learn one lesson for yourself – to better understand a person, you need to talk to him. And in Prague, one event entails a series of others, discoveries about the closest people.
With the help of conventions, so important in art, the film shows the sometimes ridiculous and sometimes fateful consequences of not understanding one person by another.
Danes are placed in the Czech Republic, but this is important only to emphasize different languages, therefore, artistically show how the same people can not understand each other. In a funny example, it looks like – ask for an adapter for a laptop, bring an ironing board.
As a serious example, Maya didn’t tell Christopher that she expected him to signal his interest in her. She blamed him for his misdeeds, even though she herself did wrong to him. Psychologists constantly emphasize the importance of voicing their doubts, fears, suspicions about their partner. Thoughts and expectations lead to resentment and scandals. In the film, the result is shown in a scene where Maya and Christopher throw things at each other in the middle of the street.
In the film, it is said that one cannot learn 100%. The sadness and longing of this thesis is emphasized here at the level of the closest people: father and son, husband and wife, parents-children. They communicate, live under one roof, but questions and doubts are voiced not face to face, but through someone. For example, Maya thought their son Thomas was sad. But she asked her husband, not Thomas, about it: I think he’s sad. Don't you find it?
It seems to me that the phrase repeated in the film several times, like the chorus in the song: “You can’t get everything at once”, serves as a calming drop for a person. Each person has a set of positive qualities. Remember the scene with Christopher talking about himself, what he loves and what he fears. Some things he can handle, some things he needs a partner to support, and some things he needs to accept. And there are genetic traits passed on from parents to children. It remains for a person just to learn to hear at least himself, in order to better get along with loved ones.
***
Interestingly, in the context of this film, Ole Christian Madsen took the lead role of his wife Stina Stengade. He has said in interviews that he is very interested in making films about relationships, exploring marriage and what happens between spouses. He bases his films on personal experiences of married life and relationships. In the previous film “Love Story” she also starred, and her partner on the set was Lars Mikkelsen, the older brother of Mads Mikkelsen, who made a couple of Stine in “Prague”.
This reminded Carlos Reygados, who in his film “Our Time” also filmed his wife, and even attracted children to the screen, which caused discontent of the competition jury at the festival, allegedly they considered it too extravagant antics – to demonstrate the difficulties of personal life on the screen.
A Danish couple, Kristoffer and Maya (Mads Mikkelsen and Stine Stengade) come to Prague to deal with the paperwork associated with the death of Kristoffer’s father, who moved to the Czech Republic many years ago. In this they are helped by a local lawyer and former friend of the deceased (Borjivoy Navratil), but the case drags on, and the problems of their fragile marriage surface. And not just marriage. Christoffer’s place in the world in which he lives is in question.
And Prague becomes a symbol of their loneliness: they do not speak Czech, they do not understand the local customs of farewell to the deceased, too sentimental for the protagonist. The landscapes of the city, the people – everything looks cold, gloomy, frozen in time. And the gray-dull weather, faded colors of the romantic city only increase the feeling of bitterness and pain that he experiences. Prague used to be different, bright and memorable, just as different as the lives of Christoffer and Maya when they were just starting out. But this film is not a hopeless longing, it does not say that we have no right to happiness. There are many comic moments in it, and the image of a pretty singer from zucchini (Yana Plodkova) still insists that there are always people in the world ready to understand us, and they will not interfere with a foreign language, age, or borders.
The only thing I didn’t appreciate in this film was the cameraman’s handheld camera. The trembling close-up shot during the dialogue, it would seem, should only reinforce the reality of what is happening. But in my opinion, the film lost more than it won. Sometimes the music seemed too sentimental, but in general it turned out to be a great film-reflection on the topic of relationships between people and the search for the meaning of life. Some may see despair in the film, others may see hope. It depends on the viewer. Ole Madsen asked a lot of questions in this film, the answers to which you will have to look for yourself, and not read them from the dialogue, or from what is happening.
"Prague" - cinema for special occasions, it is saturated with despair and despair, for viewings when you want to be puzzled and sad. "Life is difficult, and it is impossible to have everything in it at once" - as the filmmakers echo the viewer's mantra.
Christopher, performed by the most charming Scandinavian Mads Mikkelsen, comes with his wife Maya from Denmark to Prague to organize the burial of his father. Christopher buried his father 25 years ago when he left the family. The main character retains coldness in any circumstances, probably this is what the Scandinavian mentality manifests itself in.
Violin music dilutes the monotony of the film and gives tension to the moment. A beautiful move, when it is impossible to express feelings, experiences are reflected by music.
Narrow streets, ancient bridges, Gothic castles, beer and sleeping areas create a special mysterious aura. A kind of Kafkaesque Prague, which embodies the existential crisis of the hero, for whom the city remained unfriendly.
Scandinavian countries are a very special world, with its own culture, attitude to life, worldview. And Scandinavian cinema, too, is quite special, sometimes incomprehensible, sometimes frightening, sometimes addictive without a trace.
The film “Prague” can not be called a masterpiece of cinema, it does not differ in some stunning plot, dynamics or brightness of colors. It's the opposite here. A sad story about two people who are married but have nothing in common for a long time. The story of how sometimes people are deaf to their neighbors, that sometimes everyone can make a mistake and that even a stone (at first glance) heart can beat, torn by passions. The narrative flows slowly, gradually immersing us in the depths of the personal lives of the heroes. The lack of dynamics does not prevent the film from keeping the viewer at the screen. The reason for this is perhaps difficult to name. Perhaps the reason for this is a very worthy acting (Mads Mikkelson is generally one of the most talented Scandinavian, and European actors in general), thanks to which you empathize with the characters. Perhaps the gloomy landscapes of beautiful Prague, which, coupled with touching music, adjust to a certain atmosphere. One thing is for sure, the film drags its slowness, its very ordinary but deep conflict, the general atmosphere, the Scandinavian spirit, something indescribable and, probably, deeply personal for each viewer taken separately.
I watched the film as if I were reading an unknown book by Milan Kundera. Prague, with its Soviet trams, painfully familiar high-rise buildings, poor sleeping areas. The hero comes to his father’s funeral and watches his own life collapsing, everything he loved slip through his fingers. Christoffer wants to catch up with the past, but it slips away, melts in the light morning haze.
Dad left when he was 12. On a battered tape, the male voice says that he loves him, that he thought about him every day, on the walls of his childhood photos, his picture in his wallet, but the son never knew his love, which was so lacking. Everyone says his father was a good man, but quiet, weak-willed, and Christoffer recognizes himself in him too late. Too late learns his situation – his wife also leaves him, and so there is a 12-year-old son, whom the hero calls in the middle of the night to say how much he loves, loves him.
He has sex with his wife, takes her to a restaurant and asks when were we happy? Turns out they were never really happy, Maya always thought he was weak, always wanted more. He asks, why don't you leave? And they both know when she leaves, it's over. Their last day, walks around the city, half-modest kisses - goodbye to 14 years of life
The lost corpse of his father, the elderly lover of his father, an imaginary family with a young Czech for cover - everything acquires a strange musty taste, just another lost, wasted life. The stupid farce of the events that are taking place makes us plunge again into the sketches of Kundera. Christoffer loses everything - his wife, family, his hopes for the future, he has nothing left from his father except a cigarette case and a wooden coffin, and they are so easy to return to those who need it more.
This is liberation, now his life is completely empty again. Another life in vain
I write and watch a movie at the same time. I turned it on recently, but I thought it was a rehearsal! Hannibal rehearsal. Throughly impregnated with the style of Dr. Lector - clothes, manner of behavior, the same places contemptuous look, the process of eating (although it does not eat the same as in Hannibal).
Czech Republic. I’ve never been there, but they say it’s a good place to see. I was especially interested in all these formalities, all these difficulties in connection with the death of my father - do they really refer to the burial with such pedantry, symbolism and other things?
Very interesting scene in the kitchen. He speaks English, she's Czech, they don't understand each other, he switches to Danish. At this stage of viewing, I really like this scene. There's something in his words. I think there will be a turning point at this point.
What's the result? The movie is over and I’m still writing. Unpredictability. Yes, perhaps this word can describe the film. Everything is unpredictable - behavior, generous gifts, ending. And sadness, a lot of it. And I like her.
I'll watch it again. I hope I understand. The film is not for everyone.
Unusuality, unpredictability, grayness and longing, attention to detail and work done, the desire to reconsider - all this formed the highest score. Although I can be unfair. And you know why.
Maybe I was wrong about the Hannibal rehearsal. Maybe not. I wrote what I saw. I could delete the first paragraph, but I won’t. I think that's right. Or at least partially true.
A story of return and rebirth. It had to happen sometime. What happened before is almost all lies. Mads Mikkelsen’s hero has paid too much to return to himself. But it was worth it.
I get goosebumps every time I watch the final scene. Will the hero be able to find the right path to happiness, will he not break, will he not push away the very idea of happiness? His whole world collapsed. Prague. Father. Wife. Treason. Son. Duty. An illusion. Cheating. And then there was the disappointment. Extremely tragic and cruel.
The film is very dark and heavy. But I've been revisiting it many times, trying to understand and find some answers. I recommend the picture to people who love drama, tragic life stories. Maybe you can find something useful for yourself.
Who are you? Who are you? Me? I feel like a shadow of myself I never knew. Now it's calling me. The death of the father, the question of the will, are only pretexts. I haven't seen my father in 25 years, I barely remember him, I don't know him at all, and I don't want anything from him. But it tells me I can't help but go. It calls me from the depths of heaven, from the depths of the earth. I'm afraid of him. What does he want?
And here I am in Prague. This town is a dope. Everything around me seems unreal. I don't understand anything. It's a ridiculous dream, but there's no way to wake up. Meanwhile, my marriage is bursting at the seams: my wife is cheating, and I know it. I have seen stories in the newspapers about men killing their wives. That's not what surprises me. I wonder why I haven't killed mine yet. Maybe I really love her. Or are you just afraid of losing her? But now I need her here. And she's here.
All the feelings, thoughts and memories buried in the thickness of my consciousness rise from the dust, pull their hands toward me and grab their throats with their cold, like a corpse from a hole. No screaming, no crying. In every drama of life, in every subhistory of every story, sooner or later comes the climax, and behind it - the denouement. A heavy wave destroys the sand castle that you have been building for so long and diligently. Cigarette ash showers hopes and dreams, tightening eyes of the veil is subjected to corrosion, and words that have been in prison for so long, breaking the bars of the cage, break free.
No matter what happens to you, no matter what catastrophes happen to you, in you, no matter what you do, no matter how strong the feeling that the earth is falling from under your feet and the end of the world is at hand, no one cares. Prague is indifferent to private life and personal lives. Like Vienna, London, Tokyo, Moscow or Paris. Like any place in the world, like any passerby you meet on the street today. The cycles will keep going. Death is determined by birth, but birth is not predetermined by death. Every new life demands the sacrifice already lived. Rebirth is impossible without dying. Destruction is the other side of creation. You can't influence that.
But you don't have to. Because you can be happy. Just to be happy. No suffering, no holding, no holding. And you can make someone happy when you don't know them at all. And it’s even easier – don’t just think about yourself. Minutes of happiness are easy. You just have to afford it. Give up your pride, give up your grievances, stop being your own reflection. And then you can fall in love with someone you've hated for years. Love the way children love.
Prague has caused me a lot of suffering. A lot of pain and uncried tears. She said to me, You were gone, but you can be. And I will. I'll try to be. Prague is my kilometer zero and I'm taking that start. What path will I take, and will I be able not to become again a shadow of the self I did not know, but which I think I am beginning to recognize? My flight is announced. I leave this city, leaving everything I have experienced in it. I'm leaving Prague so I won't come back.