Holubice (The White Dove)

1960, Frantisek Vlacil's first film as director. There are a lot of rookie mistakes and annopyances, it isn't the greatest watch ever, but there's enough here to get us excited about a future career.
The manin problem is the plot or rather the lack of it. It is a very short film but still seems rather long, what movement there is is rather ponderous and telegraphs. The metaphors and allusions are fair enough, nice and ambitious, but come at you with something approaching the subtedly of a chainsaw to the face. It appears a bit portentous and, dare we say it, pretentious.
Where this film does point to better things is in the extremely distinctive visual element. We have wonderful differing uses of contrast, the simple black and whites, with few in between (caused by the mis-en-scene the longer exposures, the 'straighter' lighting) of the city, causing nice strong contasts of stubble etc, is nicely set with the manifold greys and side lit textures of the seaside. Scale is also nicely played with in the liftshaft, and in the way our people are at once humbled by monumental, vertical camerawork, while at once this is obviously a humanist filmaker in his almost Soviet focus on dignity and the momentous human face.
If Vlacil learns to use these images better, we're in a for a treat. This particular film though doesn't quite work, as the delivery is mawkish however much sincere truth there may be in the faceless child who releases the dove.