A tough lawyer and a childish pool-noodle salesman become mismatched traveling companions as they try to get home to Berlin in time for Christmas.
This controversial feature blends documentary, archival footage and fiction into an elliptical narrative in which two young people in Prague, an ancient seat for the practice of alchemy, follow the trail for the mystical philosopher's stone. History and future blend as brilliant montage sequences and fanciful leaps of the imagination work to posit questions about the legacy of the past and how it influences the individual's personal freedom and responsibility.
Set in a small-town hospital, the film tells the story of the great suffering of a small rascal, nicknamed “Lies and Steals“, who promises his little partner that he will bring St Nicholas - a traditional figure of Czech Advent - to the hospital room. He fails to keep this promise, his efforts being thwarted several times by the pedantic head nurse, who is called the Old Goat. In the course of the plot, the strained relationships between the three adults - the alcoholic Dr. Koníček, the head nurse and the young nurse Pipka - are revealed, all burdened with various resentments, false illusions and disappointed hopes. Despite all the conflicts, and as if by a miracle, there is a kind moment of extraordinary emotional understanding at the end, and Nicholas finally appears in the hospital.
A zoologist and a biochemist go out into an oilfield with a cameraman and filmmaker to observe and study the elusive oil gobblers.
This downbeat, grim drama about three brothers who are reunited at their mother's funeral is actually visually as dark as its story, making it difficult at times to clearly distinguish a scene. These brothers are not particularly exceptional as people go, but at least they have branched out into separate vocations in their lives. One brother is a doctor, another is a criminal, and the third is a bus driver. Like others in Europe, they suffered through World War II, yet no matter what their backgrounds and experiences, their interpersonal relationships are not exactly gripping drama.
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