VIFF Review: Empties

I stumbled into the Czech box-office hit Empties, by accident last night. I was trying to see Battle in Seattle but didn't realize it was playing at the Ridge. So I just picked the film that had the longest line out on Granville Street, and let me tell you, I picked a winner. The first line of the film had the theatre laughing and within the first few minutes it had already won me over.

Empties chronicles the adventures of Josef, an old man just starting in on the retired life after quiting his teaching career. Except that he doesn't retire. Instead of whiling away the hours with his neglected wife, he takes on strange jobs - like bicycle couriering and, when that humourously fails, working at the bottle depot at a supermarket.

What makes this film so entertaining is that it's not a slapstick comedy. It's incredibly funny, but it's also poignant with a touch of sadness. Zdenek Sverak (writer and star) embodies in Josef that old man, you know the one, the guy whose got all the time in the world and really wants to chat with you. He's warm and funny and clueless and quite lecherous. But he's so charming that his (copious) sexual fantasies seem harmless and a mite ridiculous.

Empties is a bittersweet, laugh-out-loud, intelligent comedy. Two thumbs up.