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| Tookey's Review |
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| Pro Reviews |
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| Mixed Reviews |
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| Anti Reviews |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
2000 |
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| Genre: |
BLACK COMEDY
FOREIGN
WAR
WORLD WAR II
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| Origin: |
Czechoslovakia |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
115 |
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Humane, touching examination of life under the Nazis.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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There have been several films about how people in mainland Europe reacted under Nazi occupation. All have dwelt on the dark side. Jan Hrebejk's Czech movie is unique in being able to see the ironic, and occasionally even funny, aspects of such a situation.
Try to ignore the disastrous first few minutes, in which the plot leaps forward in time far too quickly to be comprehensible. And you may struggle to keep awake during the pedestrian first 45 minutes, in which the film-makers spend much too long setting up a simple situation - that of a not naturally heroic couple reluctantly offering room in their home to a concentration camp escapee.
The final hour is extraordinarily good, as the fine actors deal with the uncomfortable issues of how to survive under a totalitarian regime, yet not fall victim to charges of collaboration when that regime has fallen. The plotting is ingenious, and the refusal to see people as either good or bad refreshingly un-Hollywood. This is a work of great maturity, humanity and, ultimately, charm.
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, Csongor Kassai 