After arriving at the Zlín festival, I accredited myself and the first film that was available in the multiplex menu that we could go to is the Irish film "The Summer of the Flying Saucer". A person who doesn't go to the movies much and only watches Czech Novak series can't rate the films that are at the festivals. Fortunately, after AniFest and Animefest, I got to go to another film festival as an editor and journalist. Unfortunately, with my workload and little vacation time, I didn't really get to see most of the films, but I did see at least 2 films.
Watching an Irish film I know nothing about is quite an experience. Thanks to the festival I got to see the cast and director live, so it was a pleasure to watch this film. After a brief introduction at the beginning of the film where the story takes place briefly in the present, the narrative got to the promised 60s. The main character Dan Mullaney returns back to his home village during the summer holidays. He discovers that the Irish village is mindful of the traditions and that the indigenous people maintain their original culture. And the young man who returns to his native village is already modern, has modern views and, most importantly, hippies. Just about this time, an alien ship crashes near where he lives, and Dan decides to help the aliens, not only with repairing their ship, but also by posing as his friends from the city.
The story is very simple, but it makes sense. It's not as "dumb" as American comedies. I really liked the use of the 60s, when the townspeople got used to their standard and all the new stuff. The inhabitants are used to nothing changing, all new things being bad and the new inhabitants being either communists or aliens.
The aliens, especially their departure, serve to develop the story, where it is discovered that they are not evil and that they make the people change from backward and stubborn inhabitants to nice and cheerful people who allow the alien ship to leave without any problems. But they will help her greatly after their epiphany.
When it comes to judging the acting and direction, there is almost nothing to criticize or rate. The director himself knows how to choose actors who can play a certain character that fits that character, and so the actors don't need to overact much and act naturally. All of the actors' actions are believable, both the main teenage character, Dana, and the persons of the aliens, who are different from the other villagers, and the other villagers, who are placed in the various positions that suit the actors best. Such as the father figure in the church, as well as the local "gossips". Of course, there is also the unmistakable character of the evil businessman who controls the police, but at the end, like the other characters, he changes his views and keeps getting better.
I probably won't compare other aspects of the film because it wasn't a big movie, the gimmicky side of things (the aliens and their ship) is made of real objects and simple tricks that have been used for over 100 years. It's a good thing this film uses old techniques because everything that isn't made on computers is more realistic, and most importantly the actors have real reactions because they know what they are reacting to.
It's a great pity, as I've written in previous reviews of films that are only at festivals, that in normal cinemas there are American "crap" films and not films from the heart. This Irish film was only seen by an estimated 100 people in the Czech Republic at the Zlín festival and it is a great pity that it is not going into wider distribution. It's relaxing and especially suited to the summer holiday cinema season when people want to have fun and watch a film in summer cinemas.
Original article June 4, 2012 – Kritiky.cz
