Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageI Served the King of England (2006)
Director: Jirí Menzel
Movie review
From Time Out London
Thirty years after first collaborating with pre-eminent Czech author Bohumil Hrabal on his breakthrough ‘new wave’ comedy ‘Closely Observed Trains’, Jiri Menzel adapts Hrabal’s 1990 satirical novel to gently diverting effect. Oldrich Kaiser plays the rueful older, and Ivan Barney the ingenuous younger, Dite, a diminutive waiter with dreams of riches.He looks back from the ’60s over a five-decade Schweik-ian career surviving the vissitudes of Czech history, from the 1920s, through wartime occupation, to his 15-year jail stint under communism. Menzel adds a little slapstick to Hrabal’s fond fantasia, giving free rein to Dite’s sexual nostalgia – showing, in echoes of ‘American Beauty’, Dite artfully decorating a succession of seemingly happy prostitutes in flowers and fruit.
This voyeurism can make it seem too much of an old man’s film – which it is. But its serene, humourous and distinctly Czech take on the ironies and predations of capitalism, socialism, invasion and social prostitution is finally surprisingly moving.
Author: Wally Hammond
Time Out London Issue 1968, May 8-14, 2008
Cast & crew
Director: Jirí Menzel
Cast: Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser, Julia Jentsch, Martin Huba, Marián Labuda full cast
Rated: 15
Duration: 120 mins
UK Release: May 9 2008
US Release: Aug 29 2008
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now