Pleasant Moments

Say, is everyone in Prague crazy? Beleaguered psychiatrist Hana's nerves are frazzled and her own relationships are falling apart. A specialist in marriage and family counseling, Hana struggles to help the bevy of wounded souls who sweep in and out of her office as though she had a revolving door. The only respite she finds from the cacophony of her life is in the soothing silence of the public swimming pool. While PLEASANT MOMENTS lays out the moral and emotional dysfunctions of contemporary Czech society, it's also bitingly humorous. Director Vera Chytilová, one of the foremost directors of the 1960s Czech New Wave, is known for her visually experimental style. Here, the images are jarring, the camera hand-held; it dodges through traffic and careens from one hysterical patient's face to another as they spar or weep in Hana's office. Hana's inability to help people make sense of their stories, or to make any sense of her own, finally drives her to the edge. (In Czech with English subtitles). – B.B.