Beauty in Trouble

Czech director Jan Hrebejk chose the title for this 2006 drama from a Robert Graves poem, although it's easy to assume the eponymous beauty was actually inspired by his casting of Ana Geislerová, best known for her performance in the 2003 Oscar-nominated Zelary. Here she plays Marcela, a young mother whose life becomes chaotic following the 2002 floods that ravaged Prague, and even more so after her husband—a chop shop owner engaged in petty crime to help make ends meet—is falsely arrested for a car theft. Marcela and her two children are forced to move in with her mother and overbearing stepfather, a situation that soon becomes unpleasant, but things take a turn for the better when she meets a wealthy vintner who relocates her and the children to Tuscany. Beauty in Trouble is clearly designed as a star vehicle for Geislerová, who responds with a full-throttle performance that balances raw sensuality, earthy maternal instinct, and careful doses of melodrama that never veer into camp. The film shines when she emotionally collides with her magnetic but rough-edged husband (Roman Luknár) and the older man who offers security (Josef Abrhám). Although the conclusion feels forced, the power of Geislerová's personality onscreen more than compensates. Recommended. (P. Hall)