The easiest way to get maximum appreciation from this film is to skip the first 2 minutes. For some utterly bizarre reason there's a small selection of vox-pop mini interviews that introduce a comparative irrelevancy into the film, and severely lowered my expectations from the movie.
Fortunately, the guts of the movie had me hooked very quickly, music being one of the loves of my life, and the major and minor tribulations of musicians (really - not so much highs and lows but lows and lower lows) are ones that I'm not entirely unfamiliar with. Once you've made your way past the bottom of that depression, there are fortunately several highs for the protagonists, don't worry, so the film does cover the full spectrum. And there are plenty of smile-inducing moments, though this really isn't intended as a belly-laugh comedy.
I guess it would take a Czech to tell us how much of this documentary about a documentary is actually true, it's constructed so that everything apart from a few mystical bits is entirely possible.
Thinking about Spinal Tap is _not_ helpful while watching this film. Alas a few Tap-isms were, possibly accidentally, introduced into the film, but that could be due to Spinal Tap covering so many bases when it comes to the misfortunes of musicians.
Musically, the film is utterly beautiful, assuming that central/eastern European folk music doesn't annoy.
Definitely a film worth seeing. I saw it accompanied by green tea - but I suspect that next time I see it, and there will be a next time, I will accompany it with a few shots of vodka instead! Phil
