Cutting It Short

Although a prize winner at Venice, this chronicle of the early married life of screenwriter Bohumil Hrabal's parents ranks among Jirí Menzel's least trenchant satires on the Czech establishment. Effortlessly blending small-town period detail with whimsical character comedy, it charts brewery manager Jiri Schmitzer's attempts to curb the progressive inclinations of his beautiful, liberated wife (Magda Vasaryova) and the antics of his eccentric brother (Jaromir Hanzlik ). However, Menzel also manages to poke gentle fun at the pompous liggers who exploit all the privileges of sitting on the brewery board without doing any of the work. Charmingly played and nostalgically filmed, but rather lacking in bite.