Innocence

The idea of family dialogues and sweet-natured atmosphere is deeply rooted within me. So deeply rooted, that I would never attribute Innocence to the creative duo Hřebejk-Jarchovský. The script of the latter transforms from an innocent melodrama into a complex relationship-tragic fresco, where every dialogue has its firm place and no character appears in it just because. The trailer’s temptation of the Czech Lolita suddenly seems very misleading. Moreover, the way the story reveals its true nature is unprecedented in Czech circumstances. Hřebejk himself does not drag down the script with any usual softening, his perspective is exceptionally accurate this time in a suffocating image that emphasizes an unusually personal approach to the characters. In combination with excellent performances (led by the traditionally infallible Ondřej Vetchý and perfectly suited Hynek Čermák, who seems to be tailor-made for his role), this is a minor domestic film event that has quietly and unobtrusively arrived in cinemas, but now it can grow even more. 85% for a drama that only few would dare to attempt. (13/01/2011)

I enjoyed this Czech psychological crime drama. The cinematography and music perfectly underscored the wonderfully grim atmosphere. Hynek Čermák outshined everyone else and the young Anna Linhartová gave a very good performance. I tend to start getting bored when watching Czech films. With Kawasaki’s Rose, for instance, I got bored two minutes into the film. Innocence, however, was above average in this respect. Slightly less so in its second half but I did enjoy it and I am satisfied. (10/12/2016)

After Kawasaki's Rose, I was angry at Innocence for a long time because it was impossible to rehabilitate Hřebejk and Jarchovský that quickly and give them a chance again. But if I could bite the bullet and get into a certain frame of mind, I can open myself to Innocence like to no other project. The notion of innocence is explored here from many angles, and the Geislerová/Linhartová similarity suggests an ambition beyond the mirroring so much adored in Persona. Fortunately, Hřebejk doesn't copy Bergman mindlessly, and instead he just rewrites some things from the history of world cinema, and that in and of itself is not a crime. It would have been a crime if he had left the one scene with Radim Špáček in the final cut, which would have made the point a farce. The real futility of the final form thus remains only the highly questionable musical score by Vladivojna La Chia, which Hřebejk, unfortunately, used again in his other work on the series Head Over Heels. All in all, Vetchý is the acting king of Innocence, Munzar nicely underlines in his scenes a certain satire of the whole story and a relativization of the fact that Geislerová plays someone who suffers from the fact that she is no longer 14 (which is classic acting in the style we are used to from her). (30/12/2015)

It goes something like this: It looks good, but it's not good. Hřebejk certainly knows how to make films, he knows how to choose his actors and music, he uses imaginative camera angles and even an ordinary conversation looks interesting thanks to these aspects... But the screenplay that Jarchovský wrote this time is terrible. I've actually seen two (or three) films connected by an awkward transition, which was probably supposed to take my breath away and make me say "Well, that's really something", but that didn't happen. I honestly suffered through the last third of Innocence. It’s a pity about Ondřej Vetchý, who had practically nothing to do and was still just Ondřej Vetchý, it’s a pity about Luděk Munzár, who was completely useless, and it’s a pity about Anna Geislerová, who also just repeated several characters from her acting past. The two and a half stars I give are purely for Hřebejk's work, and I round up perhaps only for Zita Morávková. But I truly hesitate to do so. (13/01/2011)

Hřebejk and Jarchovský made a very disturbing film that makes you feel that it couldn't get any worse, but it actually can. In the film, the status of who is actually a monster and who is an asshole changes pretty quickly, and even towards the end it's not clear how much of an asshole the character actually is. Very well written and acted. (18/03/2018)