The raucous period drama “Firebrand” was the official opening-night film at the 57th annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Friday night in the spa resort town outside Prague, but there was a lot more going on in and around the Grand Hall at the Hotel Thermal than just the on-screen battle between Alicia Vikander’s Catherine Parr and Jude Law’s King Henry VIII.
It also included the presentation of awards to Vikander and Russell Crowe, the usual complement of opening-night speeches, an extended dance number that appeared to be performed on ice skates (though it wasn’t on ice but on an artificial surface that mimicked ice but could be walked on safely) and, during breaks and after the movie, complete concerts by the British band Morcheeba and by Crowe’s nine-piece band, Indoor Garden Party.
If you missed that last part, don’t worry: Crowe was filming the whole thing for a documentary on his musical career, which tends to be overshadowed by his film one.
That’s a lot of stuff to cram into one opening night, especially after a day that had already included 43 screenings in 10 theaters scattered around the ridiculously picturesque city, for hundreds of years a popular destination for Germans, Russians and others seeking spa treatments.
Even without the setting, Karlovy Vary is an unusual festival, with its inventive dance troupe kicking off every edition, with the obligatory thanks to the festival sponsors accompanied by the on-screen note “Thanks for your money” and with trailers that poke fun at its top award, the very large and very heavy Crystal Globe.
Johnny Depp was the star of this year’s trailer, which came after host Marek Eben introduced the Czech Republic to visitors by pointing out, “we are a small country that has never tried to occupy another state. We have never tried to occupy Germany … or even Poland.”
The audience in the Grand Hall included Patricia Clarkson, a past Crystal Globe winner who asked if she could return and serve on a jury; veteran indie producer Christine Vachon, who will receive a tribute at the festival this year; and producer Mark Johnson (“Rain Man,” “Better Call Saul”), who came in from Prague, where he’s shooting the “Interview With the Vampire” TV series.
But the guests of honor were Vikander, who won the President’s Award, and Crowe, who received the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. In her speech, Vikander pointed out that the first film she ever made outside her native Sweden was the Oscar-nominated 2012 drama “A Royal Affair,” in which she played 18th-century Danish queen Caroline Matilda, was shot entirely in the Czech Republic.
For his part, Crowe thanked Karlovy Vary for being organized and running like clockwork when other festivals he’d been to were “completely disorganized hellscapes.” He said a few more gracious words, then closed with, “The award is very nice. However, I’m here for the gig. I’ll see you after the show.”
But that “after” didn’t come for about three hours, because opening night took a break from the indoor presentation to move outdoors for an hour-long set by ’90s British band Morcheeba, followed by a move back into the theater for a well-received presentation of director Karim Ainouz’s “Firebrand.”
And then it was time for Crowe’s gig, which took place on a stage tucked into the Thermal and in front of a crowd of thousands that stretched in front of the hotel and down the street.
Crowe has been making music since before he became known as an actor, first as a 1980s solo act under the pseudonym Russ le Roq and later with his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. His current band, Indoor Garden Party, includes a horn player and four female singers (one of whom, Lorena Rowe, also plays guitar) and plays straightforward rock and soul music that seemed to entertain the audience, even when Crowe left the stage for songs from Rowe and from Crowe’s son, Charlie.
The material at KVIFF was mostly originals, though Crowe threw in a variety of covers, including some dark country songs — Red Lane’s “Blackjack County Chain” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” — along with a hyper-dramatic version of Leonard Cohen’s “Take This Waltz,” an acoustic rendition of Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet” and a set-ending romp through Simon and Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter.” It’s an odd mixture, and to be honest Indoor Garden Party is a tight band whose weakest link is also its most famous member. But they kept the crowd going until after midnight, and to all appearances Crowe was relaxed and happy to be onstage.
And happy to be in Karlovy Vary, too. “By the way, this place is beautiful,” he said at one point. “It’s been a revelation to me. I’ve been a lot of places, but I’ve never been here, and this place is spectacular.”
He paused. “And I’m not gonna keep it a secret. I’m gonna tell everybody to come to Karlovy Vary and to the Czech Republic.”
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