1965 by Jan Kadar (Jan Kadar) and Ai Erma Klose (Elmar Klos) co- directed the film "Big Street's shops", won was 3rd 8th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
This film focuses on the story of the Nazis occupying Czechoslovakia and persecuting Jews on the eve of 1942.
The church bell rang, and three birds were still in the picture on a pile of dead grass, like actors waiting for performance on stage. Suddenly, brisk music sounded, and a bird flapped its wings and flew high into the sky, stopping at a place similar to a chimney on the roof, and the performance officially began. Under the overhead shot, in a small courtyard, a group of people walked rhythmically in a circle. The camera slowly pans to the street outside the house, where pedestrians and carriages are moving in two opposite directions. A commander in a military uniform conducts a band in the crowd, and pedestrians on the road, with family members, or lovers, are walking arm in arm. Their dress is so formal, and their walking posture is so elegant. Under the music of four or three beats, their pace is so regular and neat, like a well-rehearsed performance. They seemed to be attending a grand celebration. All these seemingly comfortable and pleasant scenes have revealed the hypocrisy of the Nazis. (Looking at the first few shots, I just want to say that I can't overstate any awards to him.)
The story of this film is hidden under such a beautiful appearance. Tony , a poor carpenter worker , has a fascist brother-in-law. At the time when the Nazis Aryanized the Jews, the brother-in-law gave Tony the old Jewish lady Mrs. Suterman's shop. Tony thought he was going to become a rich man overnight, but found that Mrs. Sutman 's shop was already empty and the inner shell was empty. On the suggestion of his friend Kucha, a pro-Jewish friend, he helped in the store and protected Mrs. Sutman in the form of a helper. At the same time, he could also get a Jewish subsidy.
From the beginning, the film is a very realistic story under the appearance of vain. In the noisy era, Tony and his wife's home is extremely peaceful. Although in their own eyes it may be a dilapidated farm, in my eyes it is very Czech and fascinating. Surrounded by the sound of chickens and ducks, people can see a scene of a better life. But from the wife's daily nagging, we know that she is not satisfied with her current life. She always urged her husband to ask where the old lady's treasury was hidden. Tony also longed to become rich, but in the process of getting along with the old lady, they gradually developed feelings between them. The old lady gave him the high-quality clothes of his dead husband, paid him money, and was angry and would make good food to coax him, and treat him like a son. Following the ideal logic, Tony will protect the old lady sincerely. But no, this is the most realistic aspect of the film.
The environment at the time was more pro-Jewish than Jewish. My good friend Kucha was in the street under his nose and put up a sign saying "I'm pro-Jewish ." On the day the Nazi government hypocritically used the law to trick the Jews into the car and sent them to the labor camp, the drunk Tony had a sudden change in consciousness and asked the old lady to listen to the Nazis, take luggage no more than 30 kilograms, and get in the car with other people. Go to the labor camp. Contrary to the human side of the Nazis in "Persian Language Lesson" , here we see the complicated human nature of a kind-hearted ordinary person. "It's not her, it's me," Tony said. Many times people will choose to protect themselves. Can we condemn it? I don't think I can do it. I am indeed shocked and outraged, but if I were Tony, what should I do? However, the reality is far crueler than ours. Mrs. Suterman died in the struggle with Tony.
"A Beautiful Life" tells tragedy with comedy, and "Shop on the Street" tells reality with unreality in a simple tone. In addition to the false social outlook, the film also inserts unrealistic scenes and dialogues into the realistic narrative. After discovering that Mrs. Suterman was dead, Tony looked at the barb on the ceiling, found a twine from the cabinet, opened the door of the backyard, released his dog, and closed the door. I moved a stool under the barb, walked over and closed the door of the shop, and walked back to the house. The camera was aimed at the store door, and we heard the sound of the stool falling to the ground, and then we saw the stool falling on the ground, which was really embarrassing. The opening celebration music rang again, and the two doors of the store door opened automatically, and there was a white light in front of you, and you could not see anything.
Following the white light from the previous shot, in an unrealistic space similar to a real shop, Mrs. Sutman stood in front of the store wearing a skirt and an umbrella. Tony walked out happily wearing Mrs. Sutman’s husband’s clothes. As he thought, in this costume, he was like Charlie Chaplin . And all this is as ridiculous as Chaplin's comedy. In the slow motion, the two men ran holding hands, passing by a performing band, saluting to the commander, dancing while walking, and finally, when they were about to disappear into the camera, they saluted the commander again. And the band's performance continues. The screen freezes, and the movie ends here. Does this scene say that the people have awakened like a dream, while the Nazi performances are still going on, and people are about to usher in a truly happy life? Regardless of the meaning, the poetic expression of the last scene of the film draws a perfect ending to the wonderful opening in my heart.
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