MY SWEET LITTLE VILLAGE Movie Review

Vesnicko Ma Strediskova

This wistful, charming film from Czech director Jiri Menzel (Loves of a Blonde) is a seemingly simple portrait of everyday events in a small rural community—a teenager develops a crush on a schoolteacher, a woman cheats on her husband, a doctor keeps getting into accidents. Yet as the film progresses, you can see a pattern in the “simplicity;” despite the trials and tribulations of daily life, there's a spirit in this little town that's going to remain civilized despite any unwelcome intrusions. It's a barely visible political metaphor, but a powerful one. It gives the film a tartness and poignancy that seems all the more rich more a decade after its original release. This is a picture that got largely lost in the American distribution shuffle, but it's well worth a look.

NEXT STOP … The Fireman's Ball, Loves of a Blonde, Kolya

1986 100m/C CZ Rudolf Hrusinsky, Janos Ban, Marian Labuda, Milena Dvorska, Ladislav Zupanic, Petr Cepek; D: Jiri Menzel; W: Zdenek Sverak; C: Jaromir Sofr; M: Jiri Sust. Nominations: Academy Awards ‘86: Best Foreign-Language Film. VHS HTV