"Prima facie, Jurácek's strangely enrapturing feature can be patly construed as an allegorical tool leveling at the autocratic government at then, with its symbolic innuendos and the depiction of a tinpot monarchy and a seeming utopia in the throe of high-handed surveillance and hypocrisy, but if we peel it off its ambiguous messages, what in the kernel is indeed, a fantastically configured fairytale devoid of the usual Hollywood triteness and affectation, archly cynical, beguilingly inexplicable, and capriciously surprising, Jurácek competently sinks his teeth into actualizing this lollapalooza, were it not for the deplorable suppression from the Establishment, he could have become a major player in the world cinema, alas, bless we still have CASE FOR A ROOKIE HANGMAN to quench the ire."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore

Very little can prepare you for the pyrotechnical intro to visionary film-maker Pavel Jurácek's deliriously surreal take on Jonathan Swift's immortal classic, but filtered through Jurácek's audacious imagination the eerie, frequently phantasmagoric journey of his unfortunate Gulliver (Lubomir Kostelka) descends through an altogether more bizarre rabbit hole!

After arriving by grossly disorientating means most mysterious, Lemuel Gulliver rather brusquely discovers that his presence in the rather odd locale of Balnibari quite rapidly plunges this hapless astral traveller into all manner of esoteric, bureaucratic and culturally baffling encounters, Gulliver's anomalous arrival among these impenetrably strange Balnibarians who all to frequently see him as a far from benign figure, putting him through some absurdist, Kafkaesque trial, whereby Gulliver's not infrequent cry of 'I'm a foreigner!!' only seems to drag him ever deeper into a conundrum both Gulliver and the viewer seem unable to decipher!

'Case for a Rookie Hangman' aka 'Prípad pro zacínajícího kata' evokes far more curiosity than most mainstream films, allowing for the viewer's imagination to toy with the quixotic director's abundant playfulness. Like a good cover version, the best interpretations endeavour to capture the spirit of the original while adding something entirely new, movie magician Pavel Jurácek has done that and so much more besides! Trying to describe a film so stunningly unique as 'Prípad pro zacínajícího kata' is ultimately no less futile than trying to relay a great personal anguish to someone, they simply cannot relate to it, some viewer's might feel a little overwhelmed, hopefully less will be indifferent, while many I'm quite sure shall be entirely charmed and greatly inspired by maestro Pavel Jurácek darkly surreal masterpiece.

This motion picture tells us about the special trip of a very special gentleman named Pan Gulliver who was really surprised finding a rabbit Oscar on the road, wearing the checked shirt with the short trousers. Two minutes later we learn about the Balnebard's country where the people keep silent one day a week sparing the air, where there is an immortal poet living on the railway-station.This strange surreal world where black is white and white is black is headed by a king who is working now as a doorman in Monte-Carlo. Now there is only one person living in the castle - Prince Milevin - who's got nothing except excessive consumption of all the castle's wine-storage.Too many uncertain questions with too few certain answers.

A great cameraman's and director's work. They perfectly created the specific space of Balnebards's terrarium.