Kolja

There are some movies that I have been saving for years and years. I have been missing the chance to see in a festival, on TV or in multiple reruns in the movie theaters as part of a 'best of'. Or else I have been waiting for the right time to see when I finally have the movie in my hands. The perfect moment to see Kolja seemed to be last night and I realized that I was right to pursue that movie.



Kolja is a 1996 movie by Jan Sverak and the story is of 1988, when the former Czechoslovakia was occupied by then Soviet Union. It is the time of Gorbachev and the union is about to dissolve. The protagonist, Louka, played by the author of the story and also the father of the director, Zdenek Sverak, is a concert cellist who has lost his place in the philharmonic orchestra, plays cello in the funerals and paints tombstones in the graveyard, in order to earn money. He is not married and certainly do not have any children, as his late father told him not to, if he wanted a musical career. And so, up until that day, he has happily agreed with his father to become a confirmed bachelor.

Although the reason behind his losing place in the philharmonic orchestra had been largely due to political issues of the time, Louka does not look so much insterested in politics, at least not more than any average citizen at that time - contrary to his mother, who seems to hold a grand despise against the occupying Soviet Union army. However, Louka's life avoiding meddling is about to be shaken by a highly unexpected person. His friend working in the graveyard, Mr. Broz, offers him a large amount of money, in exchange with his celibacy; all he needs to do is to agree a fake marriage with Broz's young Russian cousin who needs Czech papers. Louka reluctantly accepts this after giving it a long thought, and the two get married, to be divorced in 6 months. Shortly after the marriage the young bride escapes to West Germany where her lover is, and Louka is stuck with her 5 years old son, Kolja, as his stepfather. At first, he becomes annoyed by Kolja being around for who knows how long, however, the sweet boy would soften his heart and the two would be connected to each other with a grand emotional bond. In the background, Czechoslovakia is about to regain its freedom from Soviet Union.


Kolja is a brilliant movie on so many levels. First of all, Andrei Chalimon as sweet little boy is incredible, both as an actor, and as just himself; he truly reflects the feeling of a little one being abandoned. The scene in which he imagines as if he talks to his dead grandmother inside the bathtub through the shower head is certainly a legend, and a heart-breaker. I may sound as a maternal woman here, but the boy is simply irresistable in every little scene he is in, which is also confirmed by breaking down Louka's long standing walls around. Despite the mostly positive reviews from all over the world, some do criticize the movie as being too predictable; Louka, from the beginning, gave the signals to be changed in the course of the movie, they say. Yes it is certainly predictable, I will not discuss otherwise. And yet, sometimes it is interesting to watch a predictable story handled within a significant context.

Another impressive side of the movie is to have the sub-plot of the country's political situation at that time in a strong parallelism with the story of Louka and Kolja. Just as Czechoslovakia was invaded by Soviet Union, Louka's life was occupied by the Russian Kolja; Louka-Kolja relationship is heartwarming, while that of political situation is certainly not.













I do not speak neither Czech or Russian, and both that I heard throughout the movie seemed so close to each other that I could not tell which was which. Many Czech's say that some of the jokes and plays on words were lost in translation; I wish I could get it all as its original, however what I heard - or read as subtitles to be exact - were enough to make my heart dissolved inside the beautiful story. I do recommend this 1997 Academy Awards and The Golden Globe winner as the best foreign language film, it will soften and warm your heart.