Prague *** (1992, Alan Cumming, Sandrine Bonnaire, Bruno Ganz) – Classic Movie Review 12,023

Writer-director Ian Sellar’s 1992 British drama film Prague stars Alan Cumming, Sandrine Bonnaire and Bruno Ganz.

Alan Cumming plays Alexander Novak, a young Scotsman who comes to Prague to find 1940s newsreel film of his grandparents and gets mixed up in a love triangle with Czech film archivist Elena (Sandrine Bonnaire) and her boss Josef (Bruno Ganz), the director of the film’s archives.

Sprightly playing holds the attention in this intriguing romantic comedy drama, with serious thoughts about Kafka-esque bureaucracy and the weight of the past on the present.

Newcomer Cumming shows enough easygoing Scots charisma to compete with the more experienced acting of the two distinguished European stars.

And Sellar, director of Venus Peter, ensures that it is bursting with the special atmosphere of Prague and its huge film archive.

The cast are Alan Cumming as Alexander Novak, Sandrine Bonnaire as Elena, Bruno Ganz as Josef, Raphael Meiss as Ralph, Henri Meiss as Paul, Hana Gregorová as Jana, Petr Jákl as Policeman, Ljuba Skorepová as Neighbour, Zdena Kecliková as Cleaner on the train, Lubos Kafka as Boatman, Jaroslav Jodl as Cleaner in the vaults, and Ladislav Lahoda as Barman.

Prague is directed by Ian Sellar, runs 88 minutes, is made by Winstone, BBC, Constellation, Young, and UGC, is written by Ian Sellar, is shot by Darius Khondji, is produced by Christopher Young, and is scored by Jonathan Dove.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,023

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