Directed by:
Petr JáklCinematography:
Jesper TøffnerComposer:
Philip KleinCast:
Ben Foster, Sophie Lowe, Michael Caine, Til Schweiger, Matthew Goode, William Moseley, Roland Møller, Karel Roden, Werner Daehn, Kevin Bernhardt (more)VOD (1)
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Set in 14th Century Prague, the Holy Roman Empire is plummeting into chaos after the death of its reigning emperor while brothers King Wencelas of Czech and King Sigismund of Hungary battle for control of the empty throne. Handsome, righteous mercenary leader Jan Zizka is hired by Lord Boresh to kidnap the powerful Lord Rosenberg’s fiancée, Katherine, in an attempt to prevent Rosenberg’s rise to power alongside Sigismund and ultimately foil Sigismund’s plot to take the crown. As Katherine becomes caught in a dangerous political game between sides, Jan falls in love with her. Turning against his own religious and political faith, Jan fights back with a rebel army in an attempt to save Katherine and battle against the corruption, greed and betrayal rampant amongst those clawing for power. (The Avenue Entertainment)
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Reviews (16)
Petr Jákl practically confessed his love for Braveheart in every interview. And that's exactly the kind of film he made, an origin story of Jan Zizka for foreign audiences. From the whole cultural phenomenon, he chose the myth of birth and supported it with great names. Among many foreign actors that Jákl managed to work with, I would especially highlight Til Schweiger, who is exactly the star that has enough appeal to the audience and at the same time is not at all foreign to our cultural environment. That's why his Rosenberg is a feast for the eyes and at the same time the most interesting supporting character. As a whole, the film works, and it has a lot to offer.
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When I came out of the cinema, I was so resigned. I wanted for Jan Žižka to be a good film, and I wished it for myself. But two days passed and the situation changed a bit. Well, enough. I don't really know what to praise about Petr Jákl's latest film, but I also can't say I suffered with it. Overall, it's "just" not very good. Honestly, the twenty-three million dollar budget doesn't show in the result, but that's the least of the problems. The bigger problem is the awfully cluttered fight scenes, but the worst by far is the actual presentation of the story. Sod historical accuracy, whether the armor is period appropriate, that sort of thing. Of course, the fact that Žižka is a woefully flat character with no working motivation and Ben Foster spends most of the time floundering is already a problem. As is the entire second half, which consists more or less of running around the woods, swapping prisoners and looking for someone who just hid somewhere. I can only praise Roland Møller's villain, but the rest is mediocre at best, lacking directorial ideas, an interesting story and anything else that would be worth paying attention to. A Czech big movie of Hollywood standards this is certainly not.
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The Czech Braveheart. From a historical point of view it is completely useless, because we learn almost nothing. The cards are dealt in a moment and then it's just a matter of who cuts off whose hand or head first. The portrayal of any character is basically sporadic, including the main one about whose motives or moral values we know almost nothing. The overall flatness and blandness of the characters is unfortunately not a problem of the actors, but of the director. Petr Jákl fails to take the viewer by the balls and properly draw them into the plot. For almost two hours, the protagonist is either running around in the forest or forging plots in half-ruined castles. If 400 million CZK were spent here, then it must have been primarily on A-list actors and action scenes. And this is also the only aspect in which the director even remotely glances at his famous Hollywood colleagues. Occasionally he manages to get an interesting shot or an action moment that packs a punch. It helps to have a well done sound mix that is top notch, but often it is degraded by the inept editing. The last half hour takes it from below-average to average, and it's the only coherent part of the film that doesn't feel aesthetically cheap and lacking in visual flair, which is a problem with almost every film made in this country. Is it really such a problem to use, for example, camera filters? PS: The love story was absolutely pulled out of thin air.
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Medieval, dark, violent, brutal CARNAGE!!! If you're well-read, bookish, superior to everyone else, and a critic, you will not enjoy this film. Everyone else can look forward to proper and uncompromising medieval carnage, which has little competition in this respect even in the world. It's one of those movies that critics will hate and normal people will love. The story isn't the strongest point and I'm glad that Jakl didn't serve up a historical drama but concentrated on action, atmosphere, violence and nature. There is a lot of effort to please Hollywood and I understand and respect that completely. If there were 20 such films a year coming out in the Czech Republic, I could understand the local bitterness, but the first film of its kind made in this country, which we finally don't have to be ashamed of in the world, certainly doesn't deserve the kind of dirt that is being heaped on it. Personally, if I meet Mr. Jakl on the street, I will shake his hand and say that he is amazing for what he has done and I respect him greatly. I appreciate very much that he chose the most attractive settings in our region to show the whole world how beautiful our nature is. (the Adrpašské rocks, the Velká Amerika quarry, Czech Switzerland, Prague and many of our castles, deep oak forests and lakes); nature lovers will be squirming in their seat with delight. The casting is good too, with Ben Foster as Žižka being a likeable character and I trusted the lead just fine, but Roland Møller wins here. I personally stand by my opinion that a great villain is more important than the protagonist, and in this case Jakl couldn't have picked anyone better than Møller. The guy was born for villain roles (I wouldn't be surprised if he's a bastard in real life too, because he has the chops for it), his previous films R, Northwest, Papillon, Land of Mine, are exemplary proof. He's steals every scene, he commands respect, he's evil and you wish him dead. I also enjoyed Matthew Goode, who played a sleazy snake, Sophie Lowe as the only female character, but she's a wonderful, strong female character who also cares about emotions, and Michael Caine can put a smile on your face even in a small space. The Czech actors don't have as much space, you could say they are rather cameos. I liked that Jan Žižka was aptly portrayed as a dude through intrigue and subterfuge (the great combat strategy and battle tactics work nicely). I also liked the cinematography and the atmosphere of the time is captured very believably. It's dirty, brutal, uncompromising, raw and very naturalistic (even the tits!). It’s reminiscent of a recent Northman. The gore is of a very high standard with severed heads and limbs, slit throats, blood splashing in all directions, especially on me, so that the euphoria reaches a climax. I screamed in delight at the lion scene, it was such carnage that I immediately thought of the tiger from Army of the Dead. Hats off, that was one hell of an epic scene. I was also pleased with the wonderfully epic battle during the action scenes, which fit perfectly and added to the tension. How historically accurate the film is I have no idea, and only idiots can complain about itit, but I had a great time. 8.5/10
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The fact that Jan Žižka doesn't come across as unintentionally funny at any point, as I was a little afraid it would, can be considered a small victory. Production-wise, the film is solid, but it fundamentally fails in its narrative. I just couldn't get into the story. It's opaque both at the level of the dramatic arc of political scheming and at the level of individual scenes, where it would help to understand the who and the where, but we can’t. What works well, though, are the brutality sequences. It could have been a solid 80-minute dirty medieval carnage, but when there were ambitions for a bigger Hollywood movie, alas. By the way, I don't really understand why someone makes a film called Jan Žižka and choose a period in Žižka's life that nobody knows anything about, so the plot is completely fabricated. I'm not criticizing it in the sense that I'm projecting it into my rating, I just don't get it.
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