The Snake Brothers

At times not entirely convincing, with characters acting purposefully to artificially suggest a dramatic plot, but in individual details such as the realistic dialogues, the emotional effect, or the performances of everyone on set, this is an auteur work of transcendent stature. Prušinovský has a good understanding of the ordeals and needs of the lower social classes and fits the purely cinematic story of two different and troubled brothers to them without unnecessary sentimentality and softness. Carry on… (26/11/2015)

The Snake Brothers is excellently performed and realistic in terms of the characters’ psychology. But I have a problem with the central motif of friendship, damaged by a single event, and with the last scene of the film, which defines its message. I can’t explain this problem without a SPOILER: since the film is based on one big idea about friendship… he shouldn’t have been mad at him for ending up alone “there”, and he shouldn’t even have mentioned him as a participant in the event. (26/02/2015)

I have to admit that before writing this review, I had to listen to the song “Na hadím ocase” by Bratři Orffové for about a hundredth time, because nothing else says more about this movie than this amazing sad song. The Snake Brothers are after a while another proper Czech drama that doesn’t have a single flaw. It’s thus basically perfect. The film Jan Prušinovský made is not in his usual style, but he made it with such perfection that I now consider him the best living Czech director. Prušinovský met a debuting screenwriter Jaroslav Žváček, who created an absolutely fantastic story about two brothers who are different in some respects but similar in others. I cannot imagine different Czech actors in these roles other than the Hádek brothers, who played them so perfectly that they confirmed it to me that the Czech Republic has nothing to complain about regarding actor quality. It is enough to write the characters in a slightly provocative way and the audience is hooked. But it is of course not only these two actors I want to thank for this. I’d also like to express my gratitude to other actors such as Hájek, Šulcová, Polišenská, Žáčková, Máj or Kubánková. I wasn’t too familiar with them, but it is clear that when the director does his job right, he can turn their roles into pretty important ones. I didn’t find a single character that wasn’t deep; all of them remained in my thoughts long afterwards. The atmosphere of the small town is also perfect, supported by an absolutely brilliant musical selection, which is dominated by the bands Bratři Orffové, Prago Union or the famous songs “Barák na odstřel” and “Země vzdálená”. These songs will be forever linked to this movie in my mind. Simply put, this movie is perfect in so many respects that I’ll probably never forget about it and I’ll be forever glad that I could support it by buying a cinema ticket. (22/02/2015)

I finally saw a Czech film that I really liked, that entertained me, and that I watched with the urge to know how it would end. This is mainly because the Hádek brothers are absolutely great in the film. The screenplay isn't surprising, but it's good and effectively captures the Czech reality it focuses on, but the Hádek brothers carry it. (19/01/2017)

Jan Prušinovský was able to shoot a drama that realistically captures the Czech social present through authentic locations and believable characters, without manipulating or emotionally blackmailing anyone. If all serious Czech filmmaking reached at least three quarters of this level, we would be doing great. The actors are excellent, the film is very high quality both technically and in terms of its craft, and the directing is top-notch. (17/02/2015)