So I've already seen the last episode of The Waste Land. Well the whole directorial elite could bury themselves, if they don't have the backing of American producers behind them they are simply part of the film sub-par. Ivan Zacharias has managed to make a series under HBO's direction that is on the same quality level compared to the big-budget productions of American filmmakers.
He probably wasn't alone in this. His other co-creator was Alice Nellis, who made a series with him that has no parallel in the Czech Republic. It's the best series of the last decade, and you can see the money behind it, which has managed to fulfil all the aspirations of the creators and make their ideas come true.
It was obviously not just about the direction, but also the actors, who manage to give realism to their characters. The pinnacle of acting is not Ulice and other multi-hundred-part series. That's just how actors earn their retirement.
The pinnacle of acting is making the characters really live, have memories, their feelings, and being able to alter their lives in a way that makes fans of the movies/series gush with bliss at experiencing an episode of their show with them.
The story of the lost Misha Sikora is exactly the kind of series that gradually reveals the backstory of the mysterious village of Pustina, where all the neighbors live together. They only know the upper skin of the people, but no one can see into their souls, which they gradually reveal over the course of the series.
This is not just a story about Misha and her disappearance, but it is a story about how poor the Wasteland is. Every resident tries to make a living as best they can. Some legally, some illegally (drugs), all complicated by the proximity of a juvenile detention center that is full of bribes, drugs, and is filled with personalities who are far from criminal.
When I take the main roles, the main characters do the hardest part. Jaroslav Dusek and Zuzana Stivínová are what the whole series is based on. Their marriage isn't perfect, but they both do everything they can to find their daughter. The difficult role of Klara Sikora was also handled by Eliška Křenková. And many other actors who play the characters as if they were living in them. For Eva Holubová, playing her character was certainly easy. Jan Cina and the debuting Oskar Hes were very surprising. The other actors also managed to bring real life to their characters.
The series is not just about the actors. David Boulter's music managed to add the right mood to the whole series, which supports the sense of hopelessness of the whole setting in the secluded area surrounding the mine.
Thanks to the script and the two directors, the whole series is really the right one for HBO. It certainly wouldn't have hurt if Czech Television had also aired it, then it would have shown that we can't expect anything great from television that everyone can watch. All the TV stations, CT, Nova and Prima are only making their series to make money. Wasteland is not about money, it's about quality and supervising actors who can act and don't just act for money.
I'm glad I don't see Dusek, Stivínová and other actors in various endless series. It's a great opportunity for them to reach out to European (maybe even American) productions to get noticed.
Zacharias and Nellis are both among the best Czech directors, and so they have a big future ahead of them in various series (for HBO and for film). With Pustina, they have made a big splash that all other directors can only remotely look at.
Original article December 12, 2016 – Kritiky.cz
