Capricious Summer

Three middle-aged friends -- Rudolf Hrusínský, Vlastimil Brodský, and Frantisek Rehák -- are sitting around the nearly deserted swimming resort Hrusínský runs with his wife. A traveling magician and his assistant appear. The magician demonstrates some mediocre sleight-of-hand. It is his assistant, however, pretty, sixteen-year-old Jana Preissová, who causes a stir. The older men lust after her.... but can they do anything about it?

Director Jirí Menzel's next film after CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS suggests something pitched between Renoir and Bergman. Yet its more normative characters struggle with their mediocrity to be particularly interesting, and end up being mildly buffoonish. Since it was released during Prague Spring, it can be viewed as a satire of the Czechoslovakian government. Or it can be viewed as a satire of the people of the nation, lusting after things they cannot have, nor would they know what to do with them if they got them. I found it to be a series of character studies; hampered by the low-affect acting, it seems a lot less interesting than its reputation, developed during its decades of unavailability, would have it. However, that's not surprising. As the movie points out, things you cannot have are more attractive.