The Shop on Main Street [Obchod na korze] ***** (1965, Ida Kaminska, Jozef Kroner, Hana Slivková) – Classic Movie Review 8480

Writer-directors Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1966 for this 1965 heart-rending saga The Shop on Main Street [Obchod na korze] about a wood-worker Tono (Jozef Kroner) who tries to protect an elderly Jewish woman (Ida Kaminska) in German-invaded, Nazi-occupied Slovakia during World War Two.

‘Aryan controller’ Tono is offered the Jewish widow Lautman’s little sewing materials shop, but she thinks he is only looking for employment and hires him, and they become friends. Then the Nazis decree the Jews must leave the city.

The Shop on Main Street [Obchod na korze] is poignantly written, perfectly handled and beautifully acted, especially by Kaminska, who earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 1967 Oscars.

Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos convey the feeling of small-town life and the grave political atmosphere with great precision, some comedy, much tragedy and a great deal of poignant feeling. It is a triumph of the Czech New Wave cinema of the Sixties.

Also in the cast are Hana Slivková, Martin Holly, Frantilek Zvarik, Helena Zvarikov and Martin Gregory.

It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 1965.

The digitally restored version was premiered at the Grand Lyon Film Festival on 18 October 2017.

It is also known as The Shop on the High Street.

The Shop on Main Street [Obchod na korze] [The Shop on the High Street] is directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, runs 128 minutes, is made by Filmové studio Barrandov, is released by Contemporary Films (1965) (UK) and Prominent Films (1966) (US), is written by Ladislav Grosman, Ján Kadár  and Elmar Klos, based on a story by Ladislav Grosman, is shot in black and white by Vladimír Novotný, is produced by Milos Broz and Jaromír Lukás, and is scored by Zdenek Liska, with Production Design by Karel Skvor.

The 2001 Criterion DVD release runs 125 minutes.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8480

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