SISKA DELUXE by Jan Cvitkovic @ CineStar Andel, Prague, CZ
Siska Deluxe (Slovenia/Czech Republic/Macedonia). Screening as part of the 23rd Febiofest Prague International Film Festival on 22/03/2016, 18:30.
The day before the festival, I tried to get a ticket for the screening of Siska Deluxe, only to find that it was sold out. So Klara from press office came to my rescue, and because I was scheduled to interview the filmmaker the next day, I was placed on one of the reserved seats in the screening room, usually kept for the "important people," which was nice because, I'm not going to lie, it made me feel important.
The introduction to the film, probably emceed by the artistic director of the festival, was appropriately screwball, this being an absurd comedy. But the introduction to one of his guests will stay with me for quite some time. He introduced a sound recordist who also happened to be a producer, and followed it up with "this probably means that you did sound recording, but they didn't have any money to pay you so they made you a producer." While it was meant to be a funny remark to be taken lightly, ladies and gentlemen, this is the reality of the film industry. And it's far from being the reality that 80% of the people of this Earth are aware of. Anyways, the film was, like I said, absurd, silly, but in some moments really funny.
The sense of humour wasn't always my cup of tea, and the whole ending sequence seemed forced, but I still rather enjoyed the whole thing. What I noticed about the structure of the film was that it was incredibly nonechalant about its particularlity. I mean, the film is full of gaping holes. Which led me to the realization that the most popular, commercial comedies made in Europe for their domestic or regional markets are aimed at an audience with a short span of attention. For a cinephile like me, the narrative can't help but seem sketchy, as if written by a child. But to an average cineagoer, or even more, someone who will watch this film on a laptop while getting high, well, it's perfect.