The film that won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 1997, is a gem. Forced by the need for cash into a green-card style marriage with a Russian woman, Czech cellist Louka (Zdjenak Sverak, who also wrote the screenplay) suddenly finds himself sole guardian of the five-year-old son, Kolya (Andrej Chaliman), of a wife who has fled to Germany to be with her lover. With politics a firm background and basis for the story (though never dominating), the story neatly juxtaposes the situation of the once-welcome Russians being ejected from Czechoslovakia with the growing bond between Czech bachelor and abandoned Russian boy.
Kolya Review
Franta Louka is a concert cellist, dropped from his orchestra and left to play at funerals. In order to make money he marries a Russian woman, who wants Czech immigration papers. She quickly jumps the country, heading to Germany, leaving her 5-year-old son with her mother. When the child's grandmother dies, he is sent to live with his stepfather Franta. It's a situation they both have to come to terms with.
Release Date:
01 Jan 1996
Running Time:
105 minutes
Certificate:
12
Original Title:
Kolya
Gentle comedy, genuinely loveable characters (Chaliman really is the most endearing child actor ever), and a touching tale beautifully put together combine to make this one of the gems of last year.
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