By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jan Hrebejk
Starring: Anna Geislerová | Emília Vásáryová | Jana Brejchová | Jirí Schmitzer | Roman Luknár
Original language title: Kráska v nesnázích
Country: czech_republic
Year: 2008
Running time: 108
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449303/
Michael says: “I saw a strange preview for this film a few weeks ago, and I can’t decide whether or not it worked or not. I guess we have to see that it did work because I did go to see BEAUTY IN TROUBLE in Manhattan a couple of weeks ago. This film was directed by Jan Hrebejk, the Czech filmmaker whose 2001 film DIVIDED WE FALL was a minor hit among Chlotrudis members. While DIVIDED WE FALL was a period piece, BEAUTY IN TROUBLE is contemporary, focusing on a family who has undergone severe hardship during floods in Prague. To stay afloat, Jarda is involved in stealing cars, fixing them up and reselling them. His wife, Marcela, is getting disgusted with her husband, and takes her two children to live with her mother (who will do anything to help out her daughter) and her mother’s boyfriend (who is not so thrilled to be sharing their cramped apartment with three more people. When Marcela accidentally meets the wealthy, older man whose car was stolen by her husband she is intrigued. Her husband lands in jail and the she finds herself being courted by her new wealthy suitor, who seems beyond perfect and cares for her and her children in a way she could only ever dreamed of before. But does she love him?
“Hrebejk does a wonderful job creating three-dimensional characters who are faced with difficult choices and sometimes make the wrong ones… or perhaps the choices are correct, but their not necessarily good ones. As in DIVIDED WE FALL, Hrebejk sprinkles liberal doses of droll humor in amidst the drama, but he doesn’t really laugh at the characters. He keeps them real, avoiding extremes and stereotypes, even when Jarda’s mother turns to the church for support, or when Marcela’s step-father, Uncle Richie, displays his selfish immaturity. The acting is strong, and Anna Geislerová shines as Marcela, our flawed, yet sympathetic beauty. BEAUTY IN TROUBLE features music by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova who have become very well-known, especially among Chlotrudis fans as the stars of last year’s Best Movie winner, ONCE. It even features that film’s theme song, ‘Falling,’ which is a mite distracting, despite the fact that BEAUTY IN TROUBLE was filmed first. 4 cats”