Movie Details
za vsím hledej zenu and Female Factor(2022)
Director: : Miloslav Šmídmajer
Cast-JHana Vagnerová, Tereza Rychlá, Alžbeta Stanková.
Movie Type- Comedy/Drama
Release date- 20 October 2022
IMDB Rating-3.8
Languages- Chinese, English, and German.
Duration- ‧1h 48m
Trailer
Synopsis
Another work, in which Hana Vagnerová plays the main role, was released almost simultaneously with Hranice lásky. It is such a sad phenomenon that, for a domestic actor to be able to participate in a meaningful and interesting project, he has to suffer a role in pseudo-romantic repulsion, destroying the brain cells of everyone involved. And Hana Vagnerová knows how to suffer – her filmography in the last five years includes almost twenty titles, and most of them cannot even think of a (positive) entry in the history of Czech cinematography. And the new “romantic comedy” with the unmemorable title Female Factor is no exception in this regard.
Director Miloslav Šmídmajer tried it three times and not very successfully with Jiří Mádl ( Peklo s princeznou, Probudím se včera, Celebrity sro ). He then worked on Jaroslav Papoušek’s forgotten script in the rom-com I Love You Blue, and two years ago he offered The Case of the Dead Dead – a far-fetched but not very funny parody by the standards of the genre. Now Šmídmajer returns to the well-proven preserve of romantic comedy, which in the Czech sense contains bad pictures of bad people who are mean to each other, their behavior does not make sense and despite the repeated use of the keywords “love”, “marriage“, “relationship” or “family” is out of the question of romance.
We meet the protagonist Alex at the Ostrava airport, where we will return several times later, as she is one of the many (many!) partners of the film. Alex returns from vacation, where she was together with her friend Marta, and together they say things like “A vacation without guys should be covered by the health insurance company.” Similarly, the film is full of wishy-washy statements, and the viewer only waits (in vain) for the ba-dum-tss sound, which would aptly underline the moments of awkwardness.
Alex makes a living as an economist. In the beginning, he prepares a report for the construction company he works for, and in one of the opening scenes he refuses to accept a mistake in the delivery of material. These are the first and also the last moments when he shows certain qualities and also when he cares about anything other than his aching heart. Debutant screenwriter Dagmar Šťastná had the characterization of the characters completed on the second page of the text and could then focus only on stereotypical relationship vicissitudes, which without the slightest reflection underline the expectations of the sexism-weary viewer.
Alex’s partner is a bland mom, so maybe it’s not even her fault when she falls under the spell of the ageless Marek Vašut right after she sees him. Vasut, unlike Jiří Langmajer, has not declared an end to the squirming, so he does not have to worry about his next identical task. His Albert is a wealthy executive and a sworn old bachelor who doesn’t take no for an answer; however, thanks to his enormous assets and the ability to charismatically deliver empty phrases, he gets away with it. And they are not afraid of Dadaist questions like: “If a man gives way to a beautiful woman just because she is beautiful, is that a compromise?”
In addition to dating Alex, Albert also has an affair with his secretary and abuses his position of power without scruple. While in the West such a figure would be ridiculed and a caricature of an outmoded concept, here it is still the best that a young, intelligent, and handsome woman can strive for. “Do you know how much nerves and money a guy costs? Buy a dog,” says the wise old grandmother Alex, played by Daniela Kolářová, who at the same time, while laying out the cards, pours out bonanzas like “Some whores can’t count if there should be two or three for a relationship.” Ha ha, I guess.
Alex, enabled by passive and absurd love, fortunately, has two good friends. Especially Tereza Rychlá as the spontaneous Marta gives an unironically successful acting performance, but otherwise even the side storylines do not develop anything meaningful. Marta works in a pharmacy, but she would like to become a radio presenter. The star presenter Leoš (eh) played by Albert Čuba will help her with this by employing her as a cleaner on the radio. As expected, Marta gets into the studio during the cleaning, where she practices her speaking skills. Leoš and the owner of the radio are watching her, and the boss asks Leoš why such a radio talent is cleaning their place. Leoš happily replies: “Well, I had to show it to you somehow.” Yes, of course, it wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Good work.
Alžbeta Stanková portrays a demanding and domineering beautician who is not satisfied with her husband, who is not interested in anything besides training and watching tennis. The heated continuation of their relationship is therefore completely justified. And through other characters, other motives are added, which no longer have a chance to be played out in a dignified way to the end.
So guys are incompetent buddies, and women constantly pour wine on their fragile friendships. There are no ethnic or sexual minorities anywhere in the film, simply nothing that could upset a conservative viewer. This is because not only the film itself needs to be sold but also the massive amount of products found in almost every scene. The moment when Albert shows Alex his dressing room, which contains dozens of suits and sweaters from a clothing company whose wardrobe appears with iron regularity in similar films, captures it nicely.
Add to that the maddeningly repeated piano motif, the destruction of flowers in slow motion, and overburned footage, in which the last twenty minutes might not (and what’s more, shouldn’t!) belong. When, after about 80 minutes, it starts to seem like the end is near, not only do the two secondary lines have to be strangely finished, but also the main line must be confused and recombined. We will also see a pair of twists that we are used to seeing in telenovelas and which unnecessarily stretch the footage beyond the limit of tolerability.
So why does the work deserve that second dot, separating it from the absolute bottom? Despite the above, thanks to its naivety and emptiness, the film does not seem as toxic as other works. This even though it undoubtedly confirms stereotypes about relationships or demands on female beauty and gives the impression that the bar stories of a few female friends have been converted into a rough movie script – and it was filmed with the help of a huge amount of product placement. “If you’re going on the Titanic, why not first class?” Alex asks herself after having sex with Albert. This comedy is so unfunny and simple-minded that it still manages to evoke traces of sympathy in the internally broken viewer.
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