| CZECH REPUBLIC |
| PUPENDO |
Jan Hrebejk |
“Pupendo” is a child’s game
in which a prankster promises something mystical and pleasurable
to his victim then delivers a sharp slap. Part dark comedy,
part biting drama, Hrebejk’s new film navigates the
nasty grey area between complicity and compliance that pervaded
society in the former Soviet Bloc countries leading up to
the fall of socialism. It is 1984. Mára is a highly
talented sculptor who has fallen from his former prestigious
position at the Academy of Art; now, he barely makes ends
meet. Mára’s former student, the socially ambitious
Magda, has made a much more practical marriage to high-school
principal Míla. This couple operates as deeply within
the Communist system as Mára and his wife Alena live
outside it. Soon, circumstances reunite the former teacher
and student, providing a forum for all manner of political
blustering and shows of artistic temperament.(122 mins.) Print
courtesy of Menemsha Films.
Selected Filmography: Big Beat (93), Cosy Dens (99), Divided
We Fall (00).
SHOWTIMES: 2/21, 3:15pm
and 2/24, 7pm B1; 2/28, 1pm WH. |
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