A classic Czech slice-of-village-life movie, with no less than a dozen well-delineated characters -- the innocent youth, the befuddled would-be philosopher, the village whore, the Michael Jackson wannabe, the salty grandma, the compulsive gambler, the young girl wise beyond her years, the eccentric videographer, etc.
It alternates between Rabelaisian bawdiness and wistful sympathy for people who, for the most part, are fated to narrowed prospects and uneventful lives. The ending and its message should be strong and clear for anyone with their wits about them -- life isn't simple, common sense prevails, and folks learn how to make the best of the hand that fate has dealt them. This warm and funny film about the human condition is a wonderful antidote for the formulaic crap that Hollywood persists in churning out year after year.
