I saw this film only once, about 20 years ago, along with several other Jakubisko works at a festival of Czechoslovak films, and it seemed rather undisciplined and unstructured compared to his better efforts. When he made it, it appears that he was more the art-school denizen than the film student. Later, he was to become a consummately disciplined film maker.
I interviewed him at the time, and he said that he had been very self-absorbed in the early part of his directorial career. Perhaps that explains some of the film's basic waywardness.
All that said, this is not a work to be dismissed. It has a certain antic charm, and a certain power. The characters are strongly conceived, and the way that they are realized gives the film much of its form and merit.
The English translation of the title is inaccurate and somewhat misleading, since its last word actually means madmen or crazy people rather than merely fools.
I interviewed him at the time, and he said that he had been very self-absorbed in the early part of his directorial career. Perhaps that explains some of the film's basic waywardness.
All that said, this is not a work to be dismissed. It has a certain antic charm, and a certain power. The characters are strongly conceived, and the way that they are realized gives the film much of its form and merit.
The English translation of the title is inaccurate and somewhat misleading, since its last word actually means madmen or crazy people rather than merely fools.