Directed by:
Andrea SedláčkováScreenplay:
Andrea SedláčkováCinematography:
Jan Baset StřítežskýCast:
Judit Pecháček, Aňa Geislerová, Roman Luknár, Eva Podzimková, Ondřej Novák, Roman Zach, Igor Bareš, Jiří Wohanka, Ondřej Malý, Taťjana Medvecká (more)Plots(1)
1980's in Czechoslovakia. Young sprinter Anna (Judit Bárdos) becomes a member of The National Sports Centre. Her mother (Anna Geislerova) and her coach (Roman Luknar) hope she will meet requirements of qualification for the Olympics. The only thing which swerves Anna from her world of tough sports drill is her relationship with Tomas (Ondrej Novak). Anna starts unknowingly getting doped with anabolic steroids. Her performance is getting better but at the same time first health problems occur. Anna learns the truth about the drugs and although her participation at the Olympics is at stake she is going to continue in her training without them. However, her mother hopes Anna might use her participation at the Olympics as a mean of immigration and she decides to apply the steroids to Anna secretly, pretending it is nothing but doses of harmless vitamins. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (12)
Fair Play doesn't comment too well on me because on one hand it pleased me, on the other it disappointed me. It's nice that it admits what everyone already knows, namely why Helena Fibingerova had such hairy legs, but it annoys me that the biggest heroes are once again those who escaped the evil Bolsheviks to the West, while the rest of us loyal servants proudly held the torch of socialism, of course excluding those whose escape failed, they suffered here of course. I'm tired of it already, I hope another regime change won't come, I wouldn't want to memorize the names of new heroes. It seems to me like the movie wants to be deeper than it really is, but I would still like to highlight the very decent performances, I would see the mistakes more in the screenplay.
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I applaud because this really worked as a whole. The 80s, a story that nails the viewer to their chair and reminds them a bit of what was and what isn’t a given. Judit did a great job, and since she was new to me, I enjoyed getting a peek at this unfamiliar face in different positions. The direction was excellent too. The fact that I accidentally came across the film now that the Tokyo Olympics are in full swing is only enhancing my cinematic experience. And I guess that's why I can't score it any other way.
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The first of those three films our country produces every year that we can be proud of. The story is simple and its scope and visuals are not as large-format as Burning Bush, but it has similar internal power and even more sensitively captured details. You will be touched and sad, but you will also be glad you’ve seen this.
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Run, Andula, run! So, actually... Take steroids, Andula, take steroids! The topic of "anabolic government programs for top athletes of the Eastern bloc through personal drama, we say hello to Kratochvílová and Fibinger" looks promising on paper and is likely to take moral and ethical (not only) historical skeletons out of the closet. Skeletons everyone prefers to remain silent about even today. But as a result, Fair Play doesn't play fair play with the viewer, because it opens the door of this closet so little that even a malnourished infant would have a significant problem putting his little finger inside. Sadly, the movie only stays on the surface and does not go into details. There is no room for having own opinion beyond the standardized Czechoslovak's conciliatory view of the normalization period in a style “this is how things worked during this period, it is not our fault, what can we do about it today". The same approach is true for most of Czech movies. Which is an even bigger letdown because this movie has a large potential to get out of this cursed box of current non-documentaries in the Czech republic. In fact, even the main story line "can she run so fast?" does not work, because of the Summer Olympic Games 1984, i.e. it is soon clear what this means for the finals. Simply another movie with good performances (although Bárdosová is clumsy, especially in tense scenes with Geislerová, but in those scenes when she is silent and only sweats, she looks determined and convincing) and routine craftsmanship that is not bad, not boring, but despite the theme has nothing to say. And so, the movie says nothing and just keeps up with the others, meaning, it politely remains silent, while another layer of dust is collected on the skeleton in the closet...
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A very decent attempt to make a great Czech sports film, with excellent performances and a well chosen theme. But one small detail spoils the purely realistic feel of the whole project - the main characters of the plot work in a skillfully reconstructed early 1980s retro, but it's as if no one else existed outside of them at that time. Of course, it is not only the sporting performances of Bárdos and Josefíková that are a joy to behold, and that is what it’s all about. Aňa Geislerová also royally played the role of a mother several years ago and she still has what it takes and is finding new acting roles for herself all the time. For which I thank her again.
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