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A man making the best of a given situation as others play out grand plans is a familiar figure in Czech film, and here diminutive waiter Díte does what he can to further his twin ambitions of making money and adoring women in 1930s Prague. Remaining uncommitted in the war that follows is idealistic though, and soon – courtesy of an affair with a German woman the same height as himself – he finds himself a ‘tolerated Aryan-Bohemian’ serving naked blonde women in a selective human breeding station in the hills.

Bringing Hrabal’s novel to the screen was a long-cherished project for Menzel, and time and familiarity with the material have given the film, filled with lovingly recreated period detail, a rosy glow of nostalgic recollection. It’s a comedy; “good comedy should be about serious things” says Menzel, who adds that Díte is basically the central character from Closely Observed Trains four decades on. "What is at first view innocent, later you see is more complicated. But he is just like the rest of us. Nobody is perfect."

 

Graeme Hobbs on 1st November 2008
View all 252 of Graeme Hobbs's reviews