Winner of the Academy Award(R) and Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film, this irresistible comedy treat was embraced by critics and audiences everywhere! A confirmed bachelor is in for the surprise of his life when a get-rich-quick scheme backfires ... setting off a wild set of circumstances -- and leaving him with a pint-sized new roommate! Now, with a mischievous five-year-old named Kolya suddenly in his care ... life in this once carefree playboy's tiny apartment changes faster than he could ever imagine! Uplifting and endlessly funny, KOLYA is delightful motion picture entertainment you'll want to take home!

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This film charms me in such a quiet, touching, unassuming way every time I watch it. I'm glad it's part of my collection.

12 of 12 found the following review helpful:

KOYLA: Winner of the1997 Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language FilmAug 02, 2006
By Lynne P. Caldwell
And, I might add, this magnificent Czech film deserved to win these coveted awards.

I have recently been fortunate to have had the opportunity to see some brilliant Foreign Language Films and KOYLA is one of the best. When it was over, I just sat there not wanting to leave this beautiful little boy and the man who opened his heart to this child. So, I watched the extras and it made me love this movie even more after seeing the commentary. Zdenek Sverak, the handsome lead character in Koyla also wrote the story. It took him over a year because he put so much into it. Sometimes he would have to put it away for a couple of months because it was too heart wrenching. In my estimation, Sverak is a genius--what a compelling, beautiful and evocative story. And, his screen presence was amazing. A true family affair, Sverak's son, Jan, is the director.

After a search spanning several countries, an unknown child, five-year-old Andrej Chalimon was found in Moscow. This little boy is so gifted and so natural, he took my breath away and melted my heart. The fetching Libuse Safrankova stars as Klara, the singer with the operatic voice who also ends up stealing Louka's (Sverak) heart.

The story takes place in 1988 when Russia and communism is still destroying the country but is beginning to fade. Louka, a gifted musician (viola) has been fired from the famed Czechoslovakian Philharmonic Orchestra for merely giving a sarcastic response to a Russian interrogator. With his small income from playing at funerals/crematoriums and refurbishing grave headstones, The 55 year-old Louka falls deeper and deeper into debt. He must support himself and his mother who lives in another town and who has a flat that is quite expensive to keep up. His best friend talks him into marrying a young woman from Russia (who needs a Czech citizenship) for a large sum of money. Eventually this confirmed bachelor apprehensively agrees although ends up regretting it when she immediately absconds to West Germany to be with her lover. Alas, she leaves behind the most adorable child I have ever seen on film. The story does have some twists and turns and all but the hardest of hearts will shed a tear.

I loved this movie very, very much. It is a heart-warming, moving, and captivating tale that I will never forget. I plan to buy this film so I can share it with my friends and family. Oh--and I almost forgot to mention the music. Wow, it was fabulous and it enhanced an awesome picture.

14 of 16 found the following review helpful:

Beautiful and movingJun 30, 2002
By Klarenka
This is not a movie; it is a film, almost a work of art. Zdenak Sverak does a wonderful job as the slightly curmudgeonly cellist, and Andrej Chalimon is perfect as the young Kolya of the title. The film slowly yet marvelously follows the development of the relationship between the two characters. The music that follows the scenes is wonderfully written, I highly recommend that fans of the movie buy the soundtrack as well. This is my favorite film of all time, American- or foreign-made, and one that nobody should miss.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Kolja-only the peak of an icebergJul 01, 2000
By Kamil Godula
Although, I personally do not consider the Academy award to be a trademark of quality, somehow it happens that most of the foreign films awarded tend to be superior. This is also true in the case of Jan and Zdenek Sveraks' Kolja. I purposely say superior not excellent. As a person born and raised in the communistic Czechoslovakia I am very proud of the Czech cinematography as well as I am proud of my nation for being so particular about what to watch. Especially remarkable was the role the film art as a messenger during the time when it was not possible to say directly what had to be said.

Kolja is one of the many above-average movies made after the revolution and reflecting people's experience of the communist regime. However, I value even more the ones that had been made before the revolution. They were excellent and they made people stop and think. Czech cinematography offers a great number of excellent and extraordinary films, which will probably never be available here in the USA (e.g. films by Chytilova, Menzel, Forman, Herz, Kachyna, Zelenka and others). I truly think that the only way for a foreign film to succeed in the United States is to be, at least, nominated for the academy award. Which leaves many of the older ones undiscovered.

I'm very glad that Kolja had a chance to reach people beyond the borders of my country and that it has turned people's attention back to the little country in the heart of Europe.

I truly recommend you to watch Kolja. And I believe that if you liked this film, you might try to reach for the rest that's left out there for you.

....I can't resist to make a comment on the little review from the German reviewer saying that the communist would never let people like Louka behave the way he did in the film. I disagree. They have been fighting their every day's little wars against everyone who's tried to enslave them. If not necessarily by burning themselves on the squares of Prague then at least by not decorating their windows with the Soviet Union or other flags. But this is something about Czech people the Germans will probably never understand.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

HEART-WARMING CHARMERNov 29, 2003
By Shashank Tripathi
We are introduced to Louka in the twilight of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, a 55-year old incorrigible womanizer, blacklisted concert cellist, and a bachelor with the typical bachelor conundrum -- how to make ends meet. He's slipping further into poverty when he agrees to participate in a scam to save a Russian woman from deportation by, you guessed it, marrying her. She promptly flees to the West, leaving Louka with her 5 year old, Russian-speaking son, Kolya.

That's somewhat predictable, but the film has a warmth that you'd expect from Disney and carries a fluent minimalism that is truly effective. Setting the story against the backdrop of the approaching "Velvet Revolution" emphasizes Louka's spiritual growth. It does not rush his slow realization of his capacity to love, pried out by his young, innocent ward.

On the somewhat downside, the movie doesn't take too many risks, I had the sense that I could second-guess most of the next screens. Yet, this is a brilliant film with a really adorable kid, and IMHO deserved its Oscar every bit.

Definitely a worthy rental!

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