Walking Too Fast

Walking Too Fast (Czech: Pouta, literally handcuffs or bonds) is a Czech Thriller and drama film directed by Radim Špaček. It was released in 2010. It is a psychological story about relations between secret police (StB) and dissident movement, set in communist Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. The film was likened to the German film The Lives of Others.

For other uses, see Pouta (song).
Walking Too Fast
Film poster
CzechPouta
Directed byRadim Špaček
Produced byVratislav Šlajer
Written byOndřej Štindl
StarringOndřej Malý
Music byTomáš Vtípil
CinematographyJaromír Kačer
Edited byAnna Ryndová
Production
company
Bionaut Films
Ceská Televize
ALEF Film & Media Group
Universal Production Partners
Film Studio Gatteo (co-production) Soundsquare
Distributed byBontonfilm
Release date
  • 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03) (Ostrava Film Festival)
  • 4 February 2010 (2010-02-04)
Running time
146 minutes
Country
  • Czech Republic
  • Slovak Republic
  • Poland[1]
LanguageCzech
Budget15,000,000 Kč[2]
Box office$71,105[3]

Walking Too Fast is described as a dark thriller with unpredictable protagonist who becomes dangerous to all people around including himself. His way to reach the goal is self-destructive.

Plot

The story revolves around Antonín Rusnák who is an StB agent. He feels rage towards the world. He feels sick and bored from his family and work. His psychological issues cause him breathing problems and his doctor advises him to breathe into a bag if he gets a fit.

Antonín and his partner Martin surveil Tomáš and Pavel. They are both dissidents but Pavel is also collaborating with Antonín and Martin. Antonín finds out that Tomáš, who is married, has a lover, Klára. Antonín becomes interested in her. He secretly follows her and uses his authority to protect her. He beats up a guy who bothers her or prevents her boss from firing her because of her links to the dissidents. He also pushes Tomáš to leave the country to get rid of him. He beats him up during interrogations and reveals his affair to his family and Tomáš finally decides to leave Czechoslovakia.

Antonín forces Pavel to arrange a meeting with Klára in exchange for seeing his file. Pavel then meets Antonín's partner Martin in order to reveal the agreement he made with Antonín. Martin states that Antonín is done at StB but doesn't know that Antonín is aware of their meeting and lures Martin to the woods where he attacks him and threatens him with a gun. Martin begs him for his life and Antonín handcuffs him to a tree.

Antonín and Klára meet in Pavel's apartment. The meeting doesn't end well and Antonín gets a fit so he breathes into the bag which makes Klára realize that Antonín is the agent who terrorized Tomáš. He tells her that he followed her and she admits that she felt as if somebody was watching her for a long time. Antonín reveals his name and she says that he has to stop watching her.

Klára leaves the apartment but writes a message for Pavel on the Wall - "Svině" (Swine). Klára goes Home and meets the ambulance that takes her pregnant Friend Darina to the Hospital. She gets on the ambulance but looks around if anybody watches her. The film ends with Antonín waking up at the lakeside. The audience can now hear his thoughts as he enters the lake and goes deeper and deeper. He thinks about who he was and hopes that Klára will remember his name. In the end he states "It is beautiful here" as he kills himself.

Cast
  • Ondřej Malý - Antonín Rusnák, a State Security agent.
  • Martin Finger - Tomáš Sýkora, a member of Dissident.[4][5]
  • Kristína Farkašová - Klára Kadlecová, Tomáš's lover.
  • Luboš Veselý - Pavel Veselý, an important figure in dissident movement and a close friend to Tomáš.
  • Lukáš Latinák - Martin Husár, Antonín's partner
  • Barbora Milotová - Silvie Sýkorová – Tomáš's wife
  • Ivana Uhlířová – Darina, Klára's friend.
  • Oldřich Kaiser – Janeček, Antonín and Martin's boss.
  • Iva Pazderková as Miluška
  • Jana Janěková as Šimková
  • Monika Fingerová as Rusnák's wife
  • Jiří Štrébl as Martinec
  • Cyril Drozda as Doctor
  • Natálie Drabiščáková as Anna Řeháková

Production

The film is inspired by 1995 Casino. Screenwriter Ondřej Štindl decided to make a similar story that would replace Mobsters with Agents of Communist State Security.[6][7] First version of screenwriting was made in 2002.[8] Actors for the film were chosen in casting that took 18 months.[9]

Shooting started in December 2008 and concluded in Summer 2009. The film was shot in Prague, Ostrava and Bratislava.[8] Post-production concluded in December 2009.[9]

Release

The film premiered on 4 February 2010.[10] The film returned to Cinemas on 3 March 2011 as a reaction to its success at Czech Lion Awards.[11]

Awards

The film gained 13 nominations for Czech Lion. It received 5 of them - Best film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Actor in Leading Role. Film also received The Film Critics' Award.

Walking Too Fast also succeeded at Czech Film Critics' Awards. The film was awarded in 5 categories - Best film, Best director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor in Leading Role and RWE award.

Reception

The film has won universal acclaim from critics in the Czech Republic. Out of all Czech films Walking too fast is number one on Czech movie aggregator Kinobox.cz where it holds 87% from critics.[12][13] František Fuka considers it to be the best Czech film in a few last years if not the best since the Velvet revolution. The film currently holds 74% on Czech-Slovak Film Database.[14]

Reviews
  • Jaroslav Sedláček, Kinobox.cz, February 4, 2010 85%
  • Kamil Fila, Aktuálně.cz, February 5, 2010 75%
  • Kamila Boháčková, A2 3/2010
  • Jan Gregor, Respekt 5/2010, February 1, 2010 Accessible online just in when pay
  • Vít Schmarc, MovieZone.cz, January 26, 2010 90%
  • František Fuka, FFFilm, January 11, 2010 100%

Accolades
Date of ceremony Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
2010 Finále Plzeň Film Festival Golden Kingfisher for the Best Film Radim Špaček Nominated [15][16]
Golden Kingfisher for the Best Actor Ondřej Malý Won
Special Recognition Radim Špaček Won
Warsaw International Film Festival Best Film Bionaut Films Nominated [17]
2011 Czech Film Critics' Awards Best Film Bionaut Films Won [18]
Best Director Radim Špaček Won
Best Cinematography Jaromír Kačer Nominated
Best Screenplay Ondřej Štindl Won
Best Original Soundtrack Tomáš Vtípil Nominated
Best Actor in Leading Role Ondřej Malý Won
RWE Award Ondřej Malý Won
Czech Lion Awards Best Film Radim Špaček Won [19]
Best Director Radim Špaček Won
Best Screenplay Ondřej Štindl Won
Best Supporting Actress Kristína Farkašová Nominated
Best Actress in a Leading Role Barbora Milotová Nominated
Best Actor in Leading Role Ondřej Malý Won
Best Supporting Actor Lukáš Latinák Nominated
Oldřich Kaiser Nominated
Best Cinematography Jaromír Kačer Won
Best Music Tomáš Vtípil Nominated
Best Editing Anna Johnson Ryndová Nominated
Best Sound Jakub Čech, Marek Hart Nominated
Best Design Pavol Andraško Nominated
Film Critics and Theoretics Award for the Best Film Radim Špaček Won
Trilobit Awards Best film Radim Špaček Won [20]

International festivals

Film was shown at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, East European Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival.

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gollark: osmarks internet radio™ plays at the maximum volume allowable by anything ever.
gollark: <@683735247489466397> pause
gollark: I never got this to actually work properly, sadly.
gollark: <@683735247489466397> play https://osmarks.tk/radio/128k.ogg

References
  1. Alissa Simon (26 October 2010). "Review: 'Walking Too Fast'". Variety. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. Bláhová, Jindřiška (14 December 2011). "Druhého Vejdělka nebo Svěráka český filmový trh nepotřebuje, říká producent Pout" (in Czech). Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. "2010 Czech Republic Yearly Box Office Results". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  4. http://www.feelingmovies.sk/2010/pouta/6503
  5. http://kostlan.blog.respekt.ihned.cz/c1-45951550-pouta-jako-estebacka-lovestory Czech
  6. Foll, Jan (4 February 2010). "Pozoruhodné retro Radima Špačka Pouta vypráví o normalizačním dusnu". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  7. "Vítězství páchnoucího filmu". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 5 February 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  8. "Press: Nový film Radima Špačka - Pouta". www.fdb.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  9. Podskalská, Jana (11 December 2009). "Pouta: Radim Špaček vypráví příběh moci". Deník.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  10. kinobox.cz, team at. "Recenze: Pouta". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  11. kinobox.cz, team at. "Pouta se vracejí do kin!". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  12. kinobox.cz, team at. "Nejlepší český film podle kritiků za posledních 10 let? Nejvíce zaujal psychopatický totalitní policajt". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  13. http://www.kinobox.cz/zebricky/kritici/filmy/jen_ceske
  14. http://www.csfd.cz/film/252468-pouta/
  15. "Festival českých filmů Finále 2010 den po dni". 25fps. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  16. "Kdo si na letošním Finále uloví Zlatého ledňáčka? - TOPZINE.cz". www.topzine.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  17. "Film Pouta bude soutěžit ve Varšavě". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 23 September 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  18. "CENY ČESKÉ FILMOVÉ KRITIKY". www.filmovakritika.cz. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  19. "2010, ČFTA". www.filmovaakademie.cz. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  20. "FITES ocenil estébácká Pouta i festival Jeden svět". Aktuálně.cz - Víte, co se právě děje (in Czech). 29 January 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
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