Empties is a film from the Czech Republic in Czech and German and with English subtitles. The film focuses on a man in his 60's who has just left his teaching job and decides he still wants to work, which leads him eventually to a job as a bottle sorter at a grocery store. At this job because he is very sociable he makes friends with a lot of the customers he has to deal with along with the staff there. The film focuses also on his rocky marriage, his troubled daughter and the many people who come in and out of his life from being involved as a bottle sorter. I really appreciated Empties because of the way it examined and tackled some rather big issues such as a marriage falling apart, working to be useful and as a means of socializing and many of the things that go along with aging. All of these are important parts of this story and at times they are dealt with quite seriously, but the film has tons of wonderful humour in it from it's top notch performances, to the writing and just having the characters be themselves. They are funny because they are so realistically human and everything they say, think and do is not unordinary, or to the extreme and I think many people whether they are a young adult, or perhaps middle aged, or older will find things that they can relate to with this film and because of it's warm hearted humour I think the audience will appreciate such things being analyzed much more and will have a good laugh while watching it. This is not a heavy, or overly sad film. It deals with mature issues, but also has a very humorous and sweet side to it, that you can not help feeling sad for too long, but instead feel moments of tenderness and joy watching the characters and seeing them make their life choices, whether they end up being good, or bad, or perhaps just realistic choices. The film because of it's spirited performances and writing, is very entertaining to watch and out of all the films I have seen so far this year, I think this one will be the most crowd pleasing. The audience I watched this film with, laughed often and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. The humour has a very unique European feel to it and it feels fresh as opposed to all the American comedies that have been out as of late. There are moments when Empties made me think, made me laugh and just kept me in pure enjoyment throughout the film's running time. I think that wherever you are in life, or whatever has happened to you, I think everyone will find something in Empties' story and characters and will have a good laugh and talk about it afterwards. A terrifically feel good and thinking person's movie that has a lot to offer it's teenage and adult audience, so if this is playing anywhere near you, or will be on video soon, I recommend you see Empties. An overall great film.
Review of Vratné lahve
