The Kingdom of Shadows

I saw Buttoners about 8 years ago, at the Cinequest film festival. I originally was not that impressed by it, only thinking it was one of many films at that film festival which was entertaining, with a few memorable scenes, but not much worthy of remembering. The film came up in conversation though with my lovely Czech girlfriend, and what should I discover but that it is one of the most often quoted Czech films of the past 10 years.


The specific quote that one hears in pubs all over the Czech Republic is "Neřeš, nepřepínej!", translating to "don't try to solve any problems, and just don't change the channels." A lovely quote if I ever heard one. She says there are other quotes from this film floating around the Czech lands, but that's the most used one.

I'm more than willing to credit my dismissal of this film to my lack of a general appreciation of film as a medium, which is something I largely developed over the past six years. The two things I remember most enjoying of this film is the beginning where Japanese people are using American swear words in order to make themselves feel better, and the end of a film where the ghost of an American world war II pilot is trying to come to terms with the fact that he dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

This last scene has particular resonance. Only the dead can have sympathy for the dead.