Secluded, Near Woods

A family comedy the way it should be. Funny, intelligent, poetic, relaxing. Josef Kemro's grandfather Komárek is charming, but he remains in the shadows of Mr. Lorenek's wheelchair... Kids, kids, that's kneeling! The shine and misery of Czech masonry personified... Menzel did it great! And Smoljak and Svěrák were able to write a script that was forever printed in Czech cultural awareness and language. A rural idyll, and I love it! (10/02/2004)

Excellent comedy that draws on perfect knowledge of the Czech common man and vices that he managed to pick up and develop during the period of building "real socialism". A profound study of small-town mentality spiced up with plenty of mostly well-functioning jokes. An evergreen of our television screens that will never grow old for me. On the other hand, it is a specifically Czech theme, because when the film was screened at festivals in Western Europe, the majority of references were not understood by the audience and the film fizzled out. Overall impression: 95%. (16/06/2006)

Actually, I hadn’t seen the whole of Secluded, Near Woods until today. I would only ever glimpse brief fragments, then someone would say: "we've seen it so many times" and switch to another TV channel. Well, it was worth it. Great actors, especially Josef Kemr, a story from life, and immortal lines known even by those that haven’t seen the movie. (27/08/2010)

If you haven't seen this, you're not Czech. Even though our television repeats it over and over and you automatically complete all the lines for the actors, it hasn’t lost any of its original charm, it's still beautiful to watch, the actors are excellent and Grandpa Komarek's dry statement about the weather is always awesome. A film that it’s impossible to forget. (02/12/2011)

Czech comedy at its best, along with Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! A film from 1976 that still works perfectly. Time hasn’t taken its toll on its relevance or humor. (26/06/2016)