Domestik
Sinopses(1)
Top cyclist Roman has had enough of serving as a domestique, a bicycle racer who sacrifices for the team. And since strenuous training and a strict regimen don’t lead to the type of performance he longs for, he sets up an oxygen tent at home. His obsession with having a sports career, however, renders him oblivious to his wife Šarlota’s desire to have a baby. A claustrophobic drama on the utter breakdown of a marriage almost suffocated by a machine that oxygenates the blood. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
(mais)Críticas (5)
Adam Sedlák arrebata o cinema checo com um filme precisamente trabalhado a nível europeu. Um drama/thriller/horror perfeitamente desenvolvido com uma visão artística clara e um conceito original e bem pensado, também se destaca pela sua excelente componente musical, o que faz do filme um passeio muito mais raivoso do que a direção firme, fortes desempenhos de atuação, e um ritmo narrativo gradual tão agonizantemente intenso como um passeio de bicicleta de um dia depois de uma noite passada numa tenda de oxigénio. É uma pena que não tenha ido mais longe e de modo ainda mais feroz.
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Judging from the responses to Domestique, it is the most polarising film of this year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, or rather a film that will surprise due to its unanimous rejection in certain circles. However, if we don’t approach it literally as a story of a single relationship and two particular people, it can come across as a conceptual cinematic expression of self-centredness. The screenplay piles up clues that help to build a baffling narrative and attract the viewers’ gaze to the main male character, while at the same time suggesting through various clues that, outside of the confines of his shell, the world looks different than it seems at first glance. As in the Czech series Semestr, director Adam Sedlák shows that for a man his age, he has surprising insight into social phenomena that, according to ageist prejudices, should not concern him. After the artificiality of the relationships of young people, this time he touches on the career zenith of people in their thirties and the associated personal crises and the subtle slumps ensuing from insufficient (self-)reflection.
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It’s nice to see that, once again, Czech filmmaking is making a step forward by breaking a taboo a little bit. I liked the well-thought editing and how the story is highlighted with small details (how the characters wither at the same time as the flowers in their flat, together with the rotting fruits in the bowl). Unfortunately, there’s not much happening and it feels lengthy. The characters are amorphous caricatures who haven’t evolved at the end compared to the beginning. What is supposed to make the viewer interested in their story? I must admit that, at times, my mind was totally elsewhere. Objectively, I find some value in this film – again, it’s something a bit different, which is welcome in our cinematic landscape, but unfortunately, it left me cold. [KVIFF 2018]
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For Czech cinema, this is undoubtedly the event of the year. Domestik stands out in many ways, almost unprecedented in the Czech film landscape. If I were to compare it to something, it would be the Greek Weird Wave, especially in terms of cinematography, unsettling atmosphere, and storytelling style. There are echoes of Polanski’s Repulsion, Aronofsky’s Black Swan, and even some of David Cronenberg’s works. Adam Sedlák crafts a nearly two-hour psychological game about two characters who gradually succumb to their obsessions, descending into the dark depths of human existence. This minimalist piece is set 98% in interiors – it could aptly be called a “psychological apartment body horror.” Domestik is extremely physical, disturbing, and mentally demanding, leading viewers into the dark recesses of the human mind and body. Has Adam Sedlák kick-started a Czech Weird Wave with Domestik? Time will tell... but I'd welcome it. And if it doesn’t happen, I’m still looking forward to his next film because he’s undoubtedly one of the most talented Czech filmmakers right now. An incredible debut that I highly value. While I wish the film great success, I suspect it might not get a lot of positive reactions from the general audience – but I’d love to be proven wrong.
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It took me a really long time to get into this movie. It didn't quite meet my initial expectations, but I have to admit that it is a pretty solid psycho movie, which manages to impress especially with its originality, rawness and absolutely top-notch sound. However, the film suffers a bit from being overlong. There are really too many dead spots to be overlooked. However, Adam Sedlak is certainly one of the young talents we should cherish. There are not so many of them in our country. (65%)
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