Customer Reviews

Na komete [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Warning! - This review contains references to the film's ending ( not in terms of the mechanics of the plot but in terms of its overall significance & emotional resonance [ ie happy/sad - that sort of thing ] ).

This film is superb - as usual with Zeman. Although not quite as sublime as his "Baron Munchausen" it is still first rate : The romance is well developed & moving, the effects surreal & psychedelic, and the anti-war & anti-imperialism / anti-colonialism themes are expressed passionately and, at the end in particular; poignantly.

A most moving example of this also occurs in the first few minutes. The film is set somewhere in a late-19th century North African country ( French Algeria probably , although I may be mistaken ) which becomes detached from the rest of the planet Earth when it is dislocated by the gravitational pull of a passing comet which it is then adjoined to !

Before these events happen, we see a white colonial army officer travelling in the air by balloon who casually discards his cigar. We then cut to the ground where we see a young black boy on or next to a beautiful arabic/african carpet laid out on the ground. The discarded cigar then lands on this carpet, burning a large hole in it while a black & bilious cloud of smoke rises from it.... .

As I said : Very moving and especially pertinent & poignant right now - I am thinking of course of the American/British invasion of Iraq & the attempt of these governments to effectively colonize / control that country & region.
The incredibly moving ( and sad - be warned ! ) final part of the film brilliantly unites these themes with the fate of the two main characters ( & to the other characters also ) :

This ending - as well as dealing with disillusionment in general - is clearly a symbolic reference to the brutal crushing of the Prague Spring ( ie the cultural-social-political loosening/liberation which was taking place under the Dubcek government in Czechoslovakia, which was ended by the invasion of that country by the imperialist USSR in 1968 ).
It is a poetical reference to the end of those beautiful and utopian dreams which many of the Czech & Slovak peoples had been dreaming & starting to actually implement at that time.

With reference to this theme : The film was Zeman's first after the events of '68. It was released in 1970 & was made between 1968-1970 I think. If you compare its overall tone to that of the Zeman film which preceded it - ie "The Stolen Balloon" ( 1967 ) made during the period of liberalization - the difference is very noticeable : In "The Stolen Balloon" the whole film is essentially joyful, light-hearted & celebratory.
In fact all of Zeman's feature films up to this point have happy endings & are generally hopeful in tone - He is a film-maker renowned for these qualities :
Thus the conclusion of "On The Comet" is all the more resonant for ending very differently from those earlier works - and I'm sure this was not lost on the Czechoslovakian & other audiences of the time.
On the surface the film is referring to 19th century & capitalist forms of imperialism - but it is clear that Zeman in the latter parts of the film is also referring to the imperialist forms which his own country was experiencing.
I would imagine that most people who saw the film at the time of its original release - except it would seem the state censorship bodies who passed it for release ( who were sometimes incredibly unperceptive & literal apparently; & thus unmindful of subtleties ) - would have noticed & appreciated Zeman's barely concealed comment on the recent national crisis.

Having said this there is a lot of humour ( & beauty & hope at times also ) in the film. For example the comical elderly head of the French military ( who I could imagine performing alongside the Marx Brothers - possibly as a straight man for them to rebel against ! ), or the ridiculous giant fly which is shot down.

The effects are other-worldly & sublime - especially the comet's shining aura & Zeman's customary masterly & individualistic use of colour.
One thing should be made clear : One of the reviews here at Amazon says that the colour in the film print transferred to this video version has faded to sepia : This is definitely NOT the case !! ( Although the reviewer is correct about the sides of the image being clipped to fit the full screen ratio) :
Large sections of the film were filmed through a sepia coloured filter - or some other technique was used to give that effect - because Zeman quite consciously wanted the film in those places to have the appearance of a moving version of old sepia photographs, postcards, pictures & the like.
However, having said this, & after having viewed a European version of the film; it is clear that although the sepia & other colour effects are definitely intentional, the print used here for this US video release has probably suffered additional yellowing ( via ageing of the filmstock presumably ).
I say this because in the European version, it is clear from the paler & almost white elements in the images ( eg some of the backgrounds & other parts of shots ) that the actual ( European version ) film stock is clean & unyellowed ( although not otherwise restored )- thus those paler elements just mentioned have only a very slight sepia tinge in contrast to the visually darker parts of the image where the sepia effect is more prominent.

Also in this film Zeman divides the screen ( mainly horizontally ) into different areas of colour; which is one of his favourite techniques.
In short : The print used for the video is actually quite good except for the probable yellowing just mentioned ( & the clipping of the image at the sides ) - ie bright when bright colours are used & doing some justice to the quiet luminosity of the poetical sepia effect.

The only effects which when 1st seen do seem a bit ludicrous are the dinosaurs, which - although cute & endearing - do look obviously "unreal" in a different way from all the other surreally-unreal effects in the movie !
ie - They are supposed to be threatening but just seem cute & also its a bit like they've stumbled inadvertanently into the film from a monster movie of the period - even though dinosaurs are of course an established part of the sort of "lost worlds" type of literature which Zeman is using as the inspiration/foundation for his film. ( And specificaly the film is an adaptation of a Jules Verne novel. )

To conclude : This, like many of Zeman's films, is a great film; full of marvels and compassion and courage.
This video is a reasonably good version but of course, as with all of Zeman's work ( & far more so than with most film-makers ) it needs to be fully restored & released on DVD to do full justice to Zeman's use of texture & luminosity.

The acting is fine & the romance between the two leading players ( Magda Vasaryova as Angelika & Emil Horvath as Lt. Sverderac ) is a joy to behold :
As part of this the beautiful deliberate dream-like idealization of the character played by the leading lady - which the direction carefully creates - is used in the final scenes to give the film a pathos which is both personal & romantic and symbolic of wider social & political events.
The result of this ( & other elements ) gives the film a sweeping emotional & spiritual dimension :
One which deals with romantic and utopian yearnings and the attempt to make these real - and more simply the ordinary wish for a better, more kinder, more loving tomorrow - and how sometimes such tender blossoms of beginning and hope are crushed - leaving a memory which is dream-like, bereft and forlorn ...

If you've never seen a Karel Zeman film, this is not the one to start with. This one is basically for those of us who are hungry to see anything Zeman did. There are some lovely touches, mostly towards the beginning: shots framed with cartouches like old postcards, a man riding a horse from an old engraving, a funny animated sequence showing evolution. And much of it looks like an homage to the Melies films, with their hand-painted sets. But the film's color has faded out to sepia, the framing is cut off to fit the VHS format, and the film's story is incoherent by halfway through. I'm reluctant to give this a bad review, because I'd like to see more of Zeman's films released on video - it would be wonderful to see his version of "The 1001 Nights", for instance. But if you haven't seen a Zeman film, get "Baron Munchausen" (find out where Terry Gilliam stole a lot of his ideas!) - it is absolutely magical and will let you see why it's such a pity we don't see more of his work.

The effects weave elaborate backdrops, miniatures and an unusual Jules Verne storyline to create a magical and dreamlike environment. The nieviety of the storyline adds a humorous twist to the overly dramatic events. A lovely movie with effect being used in modern independent art films.

O.k. Czech adaptation of Jules Verne's novel Hector Servadac combines live action and various animation forms. Film is mostly in sepia tone with some scenes tinted other shades, all designed to remind one of old postcard views. Story of small area of earth pulled away by a comet for a ride through the solar system tends to emphasize the more comedic aspects of Verne's works. Dinosaurs are thrown into the mix, and the ending changed to make it all a dream that Hector has after falling from a cliff into the ocean. VHS is recorded in LP mode, and the sound is a bit muffled.

A 1970's czech sci-fi movie, part-cartoon, part-live action taking place in North Africa with a bunch of colonialists. How can you go wrong?

Well... it seems the previous reviewers didn't watch the same film I saw. This film is terrible. Even 'The Terror of Tiny Town' (a film I previously thought was the worst ever) has better acting. I keep my copy just to annoy people.

Good SciFi has to be somewhat believable. This story concens a comet coming close to Earth and ripping it in two, then returning and putting it back together. Very campy. The military unit in North Africa reminds me of a Laurel and Hardy routine without the humor.

And special effects? Exceedingly low budget. I give this film 5 stars because it's SO BAD it's good.