Limonaden-Joe

Ein tschechischer Kultfilm und ein Klassiker seines Genres, der mich nicht wie viele andere vor Lachen in die Knie gezwungen hat, sondern mich vor allem durch seine künstlerische Gestaltung und die großartigen schauspielerischen Leistungen fast aller Beteiligten überzeugt hat. Regisseur Lipský hat einen originellen Film gedreht, der es mit ähnlichen amerikanischen Filmen aufnehmen kann und dennoch ein rein tschechoslowakisches Produkt bleibt. (02.04.2011)

Lemonade Joe is a phenomenon, we can debate it, we can disagree with it, but that's about all we can do. Even I like this sharpshooter quite a bit and I agree that Lipský's humour and the specifically colourful sets have something to them, but if I should ever watch it again, it would be for Olga Schoberová, the most beautiful Czech actress ever, who must be the greatest gift in life for Karel Fiala to play with. Without her, gentlemen, it wouldn’t be the same. 75% (15.09.2013)

Knowing that up to this point Lipský had only offered utterly broken socialist shit, Lemonade Joe's bravura in content and form may seem quite surprising. However, upon closer examination, it is clear that this is due primarily to the Brdeček subject matter, refined through hundreds of theatrical reprises, that still draws from the Czech grasp of Westerns as part of the tramp subcultures and pulp stories of the time. At the time of the film's premiere, the Lemonade Joe character was already nearly 25 years old and many local actors had already been associated with the character through the theater long before that. At the same time, this film is actually the first Czech stunt film (and at a time when stuntmen were trying to establish themselves as a profession, so they were going all out), which clearly gave the film a great deal of freedom during filming, as the guys were really falling down six feet on their backs and jumping off rooftops in heeled boots, so there was no need to resort to various editing tricks. And Lipský, if from nothing else other than his circus experience, was at least a director who knew that you could ask more of these people physically than others would dare. What I still don't understand is how this hitherto bumbling fellow came up with such perfect and for 1964 quite groundbreaking shot compositions (revealing the hidden information in the second schedule, working with reflections), which he almost always uses for a well-constructed joke. Which 1960s comedy that you're watching for the 50th time alone at home still makes you laugh out loud? (01.05.2022)

The bulletproof positive hero, gunslinger Joe, first appeared in several short stories that Brdečka wrote at the beginning of the German occupation. He parodied popular serial novels set in the Wild West. Due to the positive response, he returned to the same character through a play and a novel. Eventually, Brdečka also used Lemonade Joe in the puppet film Song of the Prairie directed by Jiří Trnka. Oldřich Lipský became interested in Lemonade Joe after directing its expanded theater version. Under his leadership, Jan Rychlík and Vlastimil Hála added songs that became popular thanks to the film, and this theater version became the basis for a feature film. Brdečka contributed to the rehabilitation of the genre in Czechoslovakian, as until then, westerns had been stigmatized as a declining genre. The film was well-received even in Hollywood, where they admired its wit, perfectionism, and originality. Overall impression: 95%. (08.01.2019)

The comedic and parodic levels, where good and evil eventually reach a compromise, don’t grab me as much because there are other, far more interesting ones here. Karel Zeman's favorite method of tinting (Kojot Kid Matuška on a rocky outcrop is top-notch), the infancy of Czech stunt work, the silent acting sketch of bartender Menšík, as well as Kopecký's expressive performance, and believe it or not, the musical numbers. Henry Fonda might have been falling out of his chair with laughter, but now with Horace’s blackface and Joe's promotion of a sugary drink, he’d rather freeze the smile on his lips. (30.06.2022)