Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This is an exhilarating comedy about getting old and wanting to relive a great romance. The setting is simple, and a lot of the prancing and romancing comes tongue in cheek in the fine tradition of Czech bitter-sweet, self-deprecating humour. In this, Zdenek Sverak is the great master, he is the perfect fit to render the cynically aloof, yet secretly wistful, character of the Empties. Of course, since he wrote the screen play he shows he knows himself well and is quite comfortable with what he knows. So, it's a feel-good movie and well worth seeing for everyone.Naturally, there are scenes and comments in the movie which may escape viewers who rely on subtitles. I see for example on the DVD blurb that Tkaloun (Sverak's character) refuses to accept that old age is empty...among other things... of 'value to society'. But the plot of the movie says exactly the opposite. Tkaloun does not not give a rat's ass about what he does for a living or (poetically), where he goes. He wants "little love", and for that he would go "to the ends of the world, head uncovered and feet bare, in the dead of winter". The movie opens with Tkaloun reading these verses of Vrchlicky, a great Czech poet of 19th century, to a class of kids who don't care. Tkaloun then quits teaching, after being scolded by the school-mistress for assaulting the head honcho of his eight-graders who insulted his beloved poet. He gets a job as a bicycle courier - fantasizing about getting into shape. When he breaks his leg, he finds another job, handling the returns of empty bottles in a super-market. His wife - also a teacher, scoffs at such an undignified job for an educated man, and forswears she'd never set foot in the place where he works to see him humiliated. But, Tkaloun plugs in the place and likes his newly found freedom doing silly chores because he can fantasize about having sex with younger women during working hours. That's 'the value to society' that Zdenek Sverak has in mind for Tkaloun.Great. Hilarious. Kind of saccharine ending but I take it.

Vratné lahve (2007), directed by Jan Sverák, written by Zdenek Sverák, was shown in the U.S. with the title "Empties." The title derives from a second "career," undertaken late in life, by the protagonist Josef (Zdenek Sverák). Josef resigns from his position as a teacher and takes a job accepting returned glass bottles at a supermarket. Complications ensue. Josef isn't exactly an ideal worker, but he does establish a rapport with his fellow employees and with some of the customers.Josef is married, but he and his wife are tired of each other. (Incidentally, his wife is played by Daniela Kolárová, who looks like the Czech Hellen Mirren.) Josef and his wife are both contemplating adultery, although that's not as easy for them as it might sound."Empties" is a comedy, but a comedy with a sad and bitter undertone. Everyone is looking for love, romance, and understanding, but mostly they're looking in the wrong places. Still, the film is worth seeing, especially because of the wonderful acting by Zdenek Sverák, who was outstanding in the film "Kolya" ten years ago, and is equally outstanding in "Empties." Incidentally, the identical names of the actor/writer and director are not coincidental--they are father and son. That must lead to some interesting moments on the set.We saw this film at the Rochester High Falls International Film Festival. It will work pretty well on a small screen. It's definitely worth seeking out and seeing.

We saw this film when it was first released in Prague, bought the screenplay in Czech, and now own the DVD. This masterpiece from the father-son Sverák team is a gentle low-key story that has appealed here to all ages. It was the most popular movie of the year in terms of theater attendance. The theme is "the search for love" in its very broadest sense, with the sub-theme of the impact of freedom and capitalism on lives in the Czech Republic.The main character, sixty-five year old Josef Tkaloun, introduces the theme in his classroom of Czech teenagers. In his lesson about a beloved Czech writer, Jaroslav Vrchlicky, he quotes: "For a little love, I would go to the edge of the world bareheaded and barefooted." We follow this theme in his own life and marriage, his daughter's and little grandson's lives, as well as in those of various other characters, young, middle-aged, and elderly, who surround him.Neither Zdenek Sverák as a writer nor the character of Tkaloun he has written for himself is a judgmental man. Tkaloun's most characteristic response perhaps, is a quiet, "Jo takhle" or "Ah, so that's how it is." Sverák sketches a small world and, within it, gives us a very poignant human story permeated with a feeling of acceptance of all of us in our various weaknesses.The sub-theme of changes in Czech life since the 1989 revolution may be harder for non-Czech viewers to catch entirely. The local library, for example, has been replaced by a new teeth-whitening business called "Happy Smile." In this one little touch, Czechs will recognize the loss of their public library, the introduction of a strange, expensive, and hitherto unnecessary business, and the current vogue for abandoning Czech for the snobbier, more chic English name.We also see how the very young, without memories of the "old" days, consider all this as the normal state of affairs, though they realize that their parents or grandparents do not. In a small closely-knit society such as the Czech Republic, relations between generations, whether within the family, at work or school, or in public, have been markedly different in many ways than what one sees in a country such as the U.S. This is now changing with the influx of dubbed television programs, translated popular magazine articles, and advertising. Many youngsters now prefer to go to the mall rather than on the traditional family trip to the countryside, for example. Although most still automatically get up to give their tram or metro seat to an older person, some now ignore this previous mark of well-brought-up behavior.We should mention, too, that we find the humor delightful. Even on a third viewing we laughed. These performances stand up in the long run.This movie will definitely be a classic. Thank you Zdenek and Jan Sverák!!!

Simply, a waaayyy better than Kolja. Personally, I guess almost anything said about a movie before you see it is actually a spoiler, as it influences the expectations and the response isn't that pure anymore. For those who share this attitude with me, just read no more than the next line. Believe me, go see this great cinematic achievement. The Sverak duo is certainly a kind of quality guarantee. However, Vratne lahve gives you much more than the necessary expectations fulfillment. Witty dialogues, tremendously believable acting, plausible script and humane setting, all of these form a story full of emotions and simple truths most of us value so much even without realizing it. This movie makes you realize all those lovely aspects life and its various phases bring about. ...and one more thing, (this might be connected with understanding the local mentality) watching this movie you will most probably find yourself laughing really whole-heartedly, this movie is truly much funnier than any high-rated comedy, even though the topic and story covered aren't actually that funny in real life at all. Wonderful experience, definitely deserves worldwide recognition, a second Oscar for Sverak wouldn't be too much to expect.