Lee Eisenberg Ondřej Trojan's Academy Award-nominated "Želary" focuses on Eliška, a nurse in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia (called the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia). After the Nazis learn of her role in the resistance, Eliška has to flee to the countryside with a man to whom she donated blood. They hide out in a village timelocked in the 1800s. Eliška has to stay there for the duration of the war, and certain events in the village will have an effect on her for the rest of her life.The movie makes perfectly clear what a hard life it was for the people living under occupation. It couldn't have been easy in a rural setting either. But whatever the case, it's a fine movie. The main credit should go to Anna Geislerová (who won a well deserved Czech Lion) as Eliška, but the rest of the cast does well also. I've never seen a Czech movie that I disliked. In addition to this one, I recommend Trojan's "Divided We Fall", which also focuses on the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.Pravda vítězí!

kenjha During Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, a nurse who is part of the resistance movement flees to the countryside to avoid persecution. There are good performances from Geislerova as the nurse and Cserhalmi as the uneducated fellow she marries to help change her identity. As long as the movie is focusing on their relationship, it works fine. However, the script is all over the place, with secondary threads on an abusive drunkard, a school principal, a priest, a delinquent boy, a precocious girl, a man moving in with his daughter-in-law, etc. The filmmakers apparently were intent on making an epic, but the result is a good-looking but dreary film that goes on far too long.

hupfons5 Anna Geislerova and Gyorgy Cserhalmi give strong performances as the lead male and female actors in this Slovakian love story set in World War II. Their love for each other evolves as the drama of Hana's escape from the Nazis unfolds in a remote farming village.The beauty and simplicity of Hana's surroundings and the gentle strength and caring of Josa gradually seduce her and transform her into a woman who can girlishly enjoy the simple pleasures of life without sacrificing her talents and ambitions as a member of the resistance.Excellent performances by this predominantly Slovakian cast, especially Jaroslav Dusek who shines in a minor supporting role as the teacher.

Redhawk2004 Hands down this is one of the top ten best movies I have ever seen. It succeeds on every level, with excellent cinematography, scenery, story, acting and even music. The acting is especially superb, with the characters and their interactions always seeming real and unforced. Even the child actors are utterly convincing, and the little girl in particular brings a sense of wide-eyed innocence and charm to her role.****POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW******The story is about a young medical student named Eliska, who is a member of the Czech resistance during WWII. When the Gestapo captures one of her comrades, she is forced to abandon her old life and flee to the mountains with Joza, a man whose life she saved by giving him a blood transfusion. As part of her new identity, she must enter into a sham marriage with Joza, in order to be accepted by her new, highly religious community and to avoid being arrested or sent to Germany as a laborer. The story revolves around her adaptation to life in this beautiful mountain village where people live much as they did 150 years ago, and her growing attachment and commitment to Joza and the people around her.The romance between Eliska and Joza proceeds in a believable, if inevitable, way, making an improbable pairing seem perfectly natural. Nevertheless there is nothing Hollywood about this romance or this movie, and that is a great strength. It aims for realism in depicting not only the bucolic beauty of village life, but also its dark underbelly, with some of the nastier villagers raping, assaulting and informing on others, while everyone drinks heavily.For anyone who has ever suffered major life changes after a sudden reversal of fortune or a tragedy, and has had to pick up the pieces and start again, you will likely identify with Eliska and find the whole premise of the movie to be convincing; it just feels right, somehow.I have seen this movie three times, and it gets better with every viewing, even knowing what is going to happen. It is a pity that Hollywood just can't seem to produce a movie that has this kind of depth and emotional resonance.