Reality Czech
The experience has become all too common these days. I would rent a movie, usually a thriller, a fantasy, or a suspenseful horror, one of those I found out about online. The title and the basic premise of the story seemed promising, and I would be looking forward to an hour and a half to two hours of suspending reality and indulging in an alternate world where strange things happen. And then, shortly after the movie would start, it would hit me: this movie, which is supposed to take place in the US or UK was filmed in Czech Republic. The tell-tale signs would be unmistakable: drab, old buildings and cityscapes, apartment furnishings and fixtures that don't quite belong there, extras that look quite out of place for the supposed environment, sad-looking little cars, and many, many other details. I think I am particularly susceptible to these things because it reminds me so much of the environment that I grew up in. Growing up in Bosnia a big part of the charm of American movies was the fact that they were filmed in America – a bright and rich place, where even the sidewalks were not ordinary sidewalks. When I first arrived in America I constantly had to pinch myself to get reassured that I was really here. I felt like I somehow entered a movie set. So now, living in America and watching American movies that are filmed in Eastern Europe has the opposite effect on me. I feel like a big part of the charm of those movies has been taken away. I find myself constantly straining to suspend the reality instead of having the movie do it for me in its own right. Needless to say, I don't enjoy watching those movies.
The reason why so many movies have been made over there is quite obvious. The filming and labor costs are so much cheaper. For a while Canada was serving that purpose, but now that Canadian dollar has surpassed the US one, a new filming location needed to be found. The problem is, Czech Republic is now a member nation of the EU, and the prices there are inevitably rising too. Soon enough, it will become most affordable and convenient to shoot American movies back in the US. And that, if you ask me, is a good thing.