The Can

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2007, 109 min
Section: Czech Films 2007-2008

Synopsis

Petr and Michal don’t bother going to school much. Apart from the tedium of schoolwork, they need to sleep off their nights spent painting graffiti – and their teachers don’t seem to understand this. What’s more, strangely, their vexed parents aren’t being very supportive either. Their excursions climbing up onto the rooftops, disappearing down into the metro and scuffles with the police are all part of the irresistible adrenalin. Each thinks he’s in the right, but who’s going to win? “I first thought graffiti was some mysterious art form, I didn’t realise it was the signature of an individual, a code name which says: here I am, that’s my name and I live in this city” says director Tomáš Vorel of his “two-generation” acidic comedy reminiscent of his successful musical The Smoke (1990). In his film, cleverly combining authentic and digitally enhanced shots, Vorel looks back to his own school years and draws on his experiences as a father (his son plays Petr in the film).

About the director

Tomáš Vorel (b. 1957, Prague) began making short films as an amateur filmmaker. He moved over from ČVUT’s construction faculty to study feature direction at FAMU. His feature debut was the collection of film stories The Prague Five (1988), in whose episode Trip to Karlštejn he played the part of the mischievous elf. His second film, the musical The Smoke (1990), acquired cult status among Czech movie-goers. After the bitter-sweet comedy Stone Bridge (1996) he made Out of the City (2000), which he followed up with the documentary Way Out (2002). The slapstick comedy The Pixie (2005), about the trials of a butcher’s family, brought Czech Lion nominations for himself, cameraman Marek Jícha and Petr Král for Best Art Direction. The film won Best European Film at the Syracuse International Film and Video Festival in New York.