Film Archive

Totally Talking

Forum of Independents - Competition 2014 / Parádně pokecal / Czech Republic 2014

Štěpán is twenty-five and, although he has sufficient energy, he doesn’t really know where to direct it – or his life, for that matter. Nevertheless, he is unexpectedly goaded into action by a girl’s voice on the telephone and by a world-weary man he meets while staying at a country cottage. An unusual tragicomedy with an original cast.

Synopsis

"I try to get humour out of a dramatic situation, and drama out of a comic situation,” says Tomáš Pavlíček, referring to one of the constants of his directorial style, which he fully exploits in this feature film debut. Our hero is 25-year-old Štěpán – a nice enough guy but a bit of a waster who doesn’t have a clue what to do with himself. At the call centre where he works, he is jolted out of his lethargy when he takes a call from the mysterious and seemingly level-headed Marie. This playful flick revolves around young protagonists full of insecurities who are struggling to break out of the crushing stereotypical mould. And although Štěpán might not know exactly which path to take in life, the mere decision to put one foot in front of the other indicates a certain degree of progress. In its chosen stylisation the film opts for bizarre condensation and, in places, ventures into absurd poetics; even so, it reveals great understanding for its characters’ faltering moves. In an unusually restrained role, the piece features Václav Vydra, an actor generally cast in rip-roaring comedies.

About the film

75 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Tomáš Pavlíček / Screenplay Tomáš Pavlíček / Dir. of Photography Ladislav Moulis jr. / Music Šimon Holý / Editor Črt Brajnik / Producer Tomáš Michálek, Jakub Mahler / Production MasterFilm s.r.o. / Coproduction Česká televize – Filmové centrum, FAMU / Cast Vít Rohr, Václav Vydra, Lukáš Pavlásek, Jenovéfa Boková, Vladimír Polívka, Eliška Křenková, Matěj Ruppert / Contact MasterFilm, Aerofilms / Distributor Aerofilms
www: www.paradnepokecal.cz

About the director

Tomáš Pavlíček (b. 1988, Chrudim, Czechoslovakia) is currently completing his studies in feature film direction at Prague’s FAMU. His student films (including Gas Station / Čerpací stanice, 2009; Scheduled Departure / Pravidelný odlet, 2010) were shown on several occasions at domestic and foreign festivals; his Bachelor film The Fastest Matthew in the World (Nejrychlejší Matěj na světě, 2011) won an award at the Pot of Laughter fest, Nové Město’s festival of Czech film and TV comedy. He was also one of the directors working on the student film anthology Prague, My Love (Praho, má lásko, 2012), which was sent into Czech distribution. Totally Talking is his feature debut.