Among nature photographers, there is one catch that stands above them all. Or at least that’s what dad told little Pavlo, before he once got into an old Škoda and never came back. Several decades later, forty-year-old Pavel still likes to take pictures. Otherwise, the hero of the Czech comedy Be a Man, which was broadcast this Sunday by Nova Cinema, has no idea what’s going on with himself.
As the trailer already indicated, the answer lies with Ondřej Sokol as an instructor of special courses for men high in the Slovak Tatras. The downtrodden mother Pavel, played by Jakub Prachar, suddenly packs up one day, disappears into the mountains, and suffering awaits him there. Not because the training is so harsh, quite the opposite: it’s an obvious travesty led by a guy who needs some training himself, or at least therapy.
Image Be a man! is a rare cinematic phenomenon. As one of the few Czech mainstream comedies, it turned out significantly better than the trailer suggested. Which, of course, only applies in a context where the bar of quality is not even on the ground, but somewhere deep in hell.
The 38-year-old director and screenwriter Michal Samir made his debut with the film Hany, shot seemingly in a single take. As a screenwriter, he participated in the ambitious genre fusion Polednice, which combined horror and family drama with a well-known Czech fairy tale. And he also wrote and directed the miniseries Iveta. Now he’s created a romantic comedy with a twist of adventure, and he’s taken some steps that should be taken for granted, but at home it’s slowly working like a miracle.
Firstly. The film does not feature a double-digit number of main characters that no one would pay attention to, on the contrary, the script develops a romantic line between two old childhood friends who meet after years – and immediately an ancient chemistry jumps out between them. Despite the fact that Jakub Prachař is a significantly less convincing actor than his childhood love Tereza played by Tereza Ramba.
Secondly. There are likeable characters in this movie. One can really wish for the central couple to find their way to each other. Samir works with nostalgia for childhood, at the beginning of the film, old favorites or felicities are renamed, and in general the plot remains anchored in a quite concrete, believable space-time.
Teresa Ramba as Teresa. | Photo: Karel Cudlín
Thirdly. If the characters are already acting like idiots, as is the norm in the genre, we know why. Ondřej Sokol plays an incompetent nýmand, this perspective is clear from the beginning, and fate eventually grants him a companion who will help him find his way in the world.
Thanks to this, we find ourselves in a situation where the bar of quality returns from hell at least back to earth, i.e. to the starting positions. It’s already obvious that, unlike most mainstream comedies, Be a Guy! the kind of movie that makes the viewer want to hurt themselves. There are not too many scenes that suggest that it would be better to burn yourself with acid than to finish watching this.
So comes the key question: is the film Be a Man! really good? Here we have to take a more skeptical position. Although the plot makes sense because it is very simple, its simplicity stands out all the more. The characters do go through a minor insight and some internal transformation, but it’s really not enough. We still see a lot of situations written just for not-so-good gags.
Michal Samir has made a film that is set to be a decent genre film, with a bit of action, a bit of romance, and a relatively non-violent lesson. But it constantly maneuvers on the edge and seems like a relic from the times when romantic comedy was literally a fairy tale for adults, i.e. a very primitive story with a small twist and a nice ending – there was no time or appetite for more vicissitudes.
Nevertheless, there are small details worth appreciating: when Pavlo’s large family sets out with Teresa on a rescue mission into the wilderness, tension arises in a short space between the rambunctious crew of the car, played by Sabina Remundová or Ester Geislerová, and the uptight, pragmatic Teresa. And between the lines, the creators hint that the family cares for a child on the autism spectrum.
Another plus is that the scenes in the mountains and in the course of a raging river often give the feeling that the heroes are really moving through nature. You can’t expect an adrenaline thriller, but the creators will extract a few atmospheric, sometimes even lyrical moments from the surrounding forests.
Be a man! is quite honestly trying to find a way to make a movie for the whole family. He managed to create one-dimensional characters, but at least ones that the audience doesn’t care about. Or at least they don’t incite hatred. It is no longer so famous with twists in the plot, tension or humor, although the rather dynamic editing tries to smooth out the inconsistencies of the script and some situations.
The film Be a Man was broadcast by Nova Cinema on Sunday. | Video: Bioscop
The novel wants to draw on the traditions of Czech family films, where “normal” rules still apply, for example that some characters like each other. But it is a sad proof of the pathetic level of mainstream production when we have to highlight the banal fact that a romantic film was created that really wants to create a good mood. In other words, we actually praise what should be taken for granted, or even the subject of criticism, because even audience films could have slightly higher ambitions.
So yes: they made a film in the Czech Republic aimed at the widest audience, and unless you have some higher taste requirements, you probably won’t want to poke your eyes out while watching it. But he doesn’t want to cry about it either.