Kolya (1996)
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Kolya Movie Review
Kolya is a 1996 Czech drama film directed by Jan Sverak and starring Zdenek Sverak. It’s for once a strong Oscar winner and such a wonderful film.
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“First you show no interest in children
and then it’s a Russian“
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Its story may be a bit unbelievable, but wonderfully suitable for cinema. An older man who is a womanizer marries for money a Russian immigrant, but when she emigrates to Germany, he has to take care of her son that she left behind. Yes, a bit too convenient plotting led to that moment, but still watching the two was wonderful and the entire movie is very cinematic.
It’s the kind of film that is both populist in its emotional approach and also very artistic in the way it was shot, and scored, and also directed. The movie’s competent through and through. The score is absolutely terrific and one of the standouts here, but the photography and also the direction from Jan Sverak are very strong.
The dialogue is also very good and the movie has both talkative and silent moments interspersed throughout and I loved both of those. I found the second act somewhat messy, but the first and third act are both superb. The movie’s pacing is problematic though, and that led to that messy second act. It should have been a shorter, more engaging film as sometimes its slow, protracted pace hurt it in my opinion.
But I just really liked how well developed the central character is. Louka was played beautifully by Zdenek Sverak who’s actually Jan’s father so this movie is a strong case for nepotism as both the son and the father delivered in spades.
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That performance drives this movie, but the titular kid is also wonderful and a case of good child acting is present here as well. The other characters also serve their purpose, but it’s the relationship between these two that is, yes familiar, but undeniably impactful as it’s so well built up and executed. The entire movie is very strong and thus I am more than fine that it won an Oscar. In fact, it’s one of the best foreign winners, not only of the nineties, but so far overall.
Kolya is one of the better foreign Oscar winners thanks to its big heart and many undeniable cinematic qualities such as a terrific score, strong cinematography and excellent direction. The movie’s runtime is protracted and the second act is a bit messy, but the rest of the film is very well plotted, so well acted and effective in its interesting, moving story.
