Parallel Worlds

The young Czech director Václav is a great admirer of contemporary French cinema. This source of inspiration is especially apparent in the rhythm and camerawork of Parallel Worlds. The slow tempo emphasises the feeling of futility that inculcates the two protagonists and their surroundings all in their thirties and facing an existential crisis.He is past 35, she is 28 and they’ve been together for a long time. He, architect Krystof (Karel Roden, also to be seen at the festival in Jan Nemec’s Late Night Talks with Mother), is frustrated in his work. He has to spent too much time working with foreign clients who have bad taste. She, translator Tereza, is insecure and demands much attention and confirmation. The communication between the two gets more and more difficult and at a certain point Krystof even has an affair with someone else.The story mainly focuses on the world of feelings of Tereza, who becomes increasingly depressed and makes no progress with the novel she has to translate. More and more, Tereza and Krystof pass each other by, in parallel worlds.Just like Václav’s fiction début Marian (before that he made documentaries), Parallel Worlds is made with a sharp eye for everyday reality. Václav’s Prague is grey and desolate, the mood of his generation is familiar.