AllMovie

Slovakian stage director Juraj Nvota makes his feature-length filmmaking debut with the comedy drama Kruté Radosti (Cruel Joys). Set during 1933 in a small Slovak town, the story involves the teenage Valentina (Tana Pauhofova) reuniting with her long-lost father Karol (Ondrej Vetchy). The problem is Karol doesn't want to let on that he is her father. He's too busy dating both Helena (Anna Siskova) and Ilona (Szidi Tobias) and he doesn't want to be bothered with kids. So he makes his friend Martin (Milan Mikulcik) take care of Valentina under the guise that he is her uncle. Cruel Joys was nominated for the Crystal Globe award at the 2003 Karlovy Vary Film Festival.