Arriving at the Socialist era concrete pile Hotel Praha in the midst of slow-burning marital conflict are the Hojholts, impassive...
Arriving at the Socialist era concrete pile Hotel Praha in the midst of slow-burning marital conflict are the Hojholts, impassive Christoffer (Mads Mikkelsen, the Pusher trilogy) and nervous Maja (Kira's Reason star and Madsen muse Stine Stengade). They're attractive, yet simultaneously tense and wary after 14 years together. The mood isn't lightened by the purpose of their trip: Christoffer's been summoned by a lawyer (Borivoj Navratil, from festival fave Buttoners) to claim the body of his estranged father, which he's determined to inter in the family plot.
Their cultural dislocation quickly borders on the comically absurd, and Christoffer begins to have almost surreal encounters with the famously hidebound Czechs.
In short order, Maja announces she's in love with someone else. Though clearly furious, Christoffer broods and eventually develops an odd relationship with Elena, his late father's housekeeper (Jana Plodkova).
Unfortunately, they're stuck in Prague, as the corpse has gone missing on the wrong flight. Throughout his passage from tortured to, well ... less tortured, Christoffer hears the same weary advice from just about everyone he meets: "Life is hard, you can't have it all." In time, fresh revelations from Maja and the attorney jar Christoffer into a rare - and intense - emotional response. [Source: Variety]
Their cultural dislocation quickly borders on the comically absurd, and Christoffer begins to have almost surreal encounters with the famously hidebound Czechs.
In short order, Maja announces she's in love with someone else. Though clearly furious, Christoffer broods and eventually develops an odd relationship with Elena, his late father's housekeeper (Jana Plodkova).
Unfortunately, they're stuck in Prague, as the corpse has gone missing on the wrong flight. Throughout his passage from tortured to, well ... less tortured, Christoffer hears the same weary advice from just about everyone he meets: "Life is hard, you can't have it all." In time, fresh revelations from Maja and the attorney jar Christoffer into a rare - and intense - emotional response. [Source: Variety]
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Where to watch Prague (Prag)
68 %1,298 reviewsAudience score rating
"Marriage on the rocks has long been on the menu at cinema's vast bar, but few recent helmers have managed to mix as potent a brew as Ole Christian Madsen in the long dramatic draught that is "Prague." The story of a Copenhagen marriage that slowly crumbles during a sad, darkly quirky trip to the Czech capital, this widescreen wedge of underplayed Danish discord is far more resonant and focused than Madsen's previous export, the self-conscious Dogma slog "Kira's Reason: A Love Story," and will be rewarded with fest trips, solid arthouse biz and post-travel shelf life."
—
Variety
Variety"The impossibility of communication is the sustaining idea of this potent and intelligent Danish drama, a sombre yet exhilarating piece of work marred only by an ending which feels more like a fadeout than a deliberate decision."
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New Zealand Herald
New Zealand HeraldPrague (Prag) | Details
- Runtime
- 97
- Genre
- Drama
- Country of origin
- Denmark
