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KARLOVY VARY 2021 Competition

Review: Every Single Minute

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- Erika Hníková takes a look at the difficult decisions facing parents when raising a child

Review: Every Single Minute

In the first scene of the documentary Every Single Minute [+see also:
trailer
interview: Erika Hníková
film profile
]
, playing in the Crystal Globe Competition at the 55th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, we hear a voiceover from Michal over images of him getting married. He talks about how even as the newlyweds said, "I do," the Hanuliaks knew that their life, from this moment on, would be dedicated to their son Miško. But even before it's revealed that the couple are going to bring up their son according to the Kamevéda method, the audience knows something is seriously amiss because no man should get married in a white tuxedo.

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The Kamevéda method is for parents who want their kids to be the best at everything. The child should talk many languages, be first in every race, eat well and be perfectly obedient. It also has rules for the parents: they should dedicate their whole life to their child, even at the expense of their relationships with friends and family. Director Erika Hníková accomplishes quite a feat as she manages to film Michal and Lenka while remaining a passive observer, ensuring that the film isn't a study of the right and wrong ways of bringing up a child using Kamevéda, but rather a look at parenthood more generally. 

One of the first scenes takes place when Miško is three years and nine months old. Dad is watching Youtube and comparing the abilities of prodigious ice hockey players of a similar age with their own son. He makes clear that their child is not just competing with kids from the Czech Republic or Slovakia, but with children from all around the world.

The film's chapters state the day of the week and the month of the year. We watch Miško develop as a four-year-old, and he's rather well-mannered and seems to revel in the doting that his parents give him. What emerges as the director's main point of interest is how difficult it is to raise a child for parents. What is the right way? Can we guarantee success? When Lenka's parents ask her if there are plans for a second child, more questions are raised: could they give the same level of care to a second child, and are there even enough hours in the day? The film's best sequence is when the parents are discussing this in the car, and the camera stays on Miško to observe his reaction.

Lenka is often shown cleaning, and the family’s apartment is always spotless for the camera: the couple makes such an effort to portray perfect lives that it's no surprise when there is trouble in paradise. Hníková captures a phone call where Michal tells Lenka he'll be late home from work, not in time to put his son to bed, and admits from the other end of the phone that there are problems in their relationship. For her part, Lenka uses Miško's needs to try and persuade hubby to come home. The impression is that the demands of the Kamevéda method are harder on the parents than on the child, and that something will have to give for the cracks in their relationship not to become a chasm that drives them apart. The director never observes the family outside of parenting, and while this singular approach is effective, it is also slightly frustrating in that the audience is not given many details about the parents as people and workers.

Every Single Minute was produced by Endorfilm, and co-produced by Punkchart Films and Česká televize.

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