I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

And by breathtaking I mean literally breathtaking - while watching this movie, from time to time, especially during the last 30 or so minutes, you will realize that you are not breathing. I don't know what else to say, everything has already been said in other reviews. Naturally, I've heard about this movie before, I knew that it was the only Slovak movie to ever win an Oscar, I've read the reviews, but I was a bit hesitant to watch it because I know how badly many of the great old movies age and I didn't want to be disappointed. Well, I wasn't. This movie didn't age well, this movie simply doesn't age at all. The reason for this is that it deals with an eternal internal conflict in all humans - a conflict between what is good for me and what is moral. And what is "good" anyway? What is "moral"? What is the right thing to do? Is it always right to do the right thing? Is it always wrong to do the wrong thing? Where is the balance? Is there a balance? The main protagonist keeps asking these questions until it is too late. And most of all, he forces you to keep asking these questions yourself. You will keep asking yourself these questions long after watching this movie. And the only answer you will be able to come up with is "I don't know! I don't want to answer!" Just like Tono Brtko didn't want to answer them. It is a story of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. A story of an ordinary man being forced to make a decision that no one wants to make. A decision that makes you choose between two wrong outcomes. The acting is simply perfect, there is no other word to describe it. Kaminska is perfect, Kroner is perfect and they are both perfect together. If there was an Oscar awarded for the best chemistry between two main protagonists, these two would definitely win it (and to this day I haven't seen any duo perform better).The final dream sequence is the best dream sequence I have ever seen in a movie, especially if you notice all the symbolism. It shows the contrast between what is and what could be. Between what podiums and uniforms are used for and what they could be used for. And ultimately, a contrast between the good in each and every one of us and the evil in each and every one of us.Watch this movie and you will never forget it. Trust me.

'The Shop on Main Street' was co-directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos. Klos was a Czeck and Kadár, a Slovak born in Hungary. The setting of the film is a small town in Slovakia during the early part of World War II. Slovakia (which became The First Slovak Republic) was the only country along with Germany and the Soviet Union to invade Poland when the war started. Slovakia was forced to declare independence by Germany and a puppet regime was set up with Jozef Tiso as president and Vojtech Tuka, Prime Minister. Tuka was far more radical than Tiso and headed the pro-Nazi wing of the Slovak People's Party. The wing was supported by the Hlinka Guard, who sported the double cross symbol on their uniforms. In the film, a giant tower featuring the double cross is built in the center of town. The deportation of the Jews (a key element of the plot) was facilitated by Tuka. Approximately 57,000 Jews were deported up until 1942, when various factions in Slovakia got wind that the Jews were not being deported to labor camps, but rather were being exterminated. The deportations stopped for about two years when Slovakia insisted that further deportations would affect their economy in a deleterious way. In 1944, a national insurrection against the Nazis (the Slovak National Uprising) led to a Nazi take-over of the country. Deportations of Jews began again and even as late as March 1945, large numbers of Jews were murdered.'The Shop on Main Street' primarily addresses the issue of the ordinary man's response to living in a society under the yoke of fascist oppression. Our protagonist is Tóno Brtko, an often unemployed carpenter who lives in a modest home with his henpecking wife, Evelyna. Tóno's brother-in-law, Markuš Kolkotský,is commander of the Fascist guards. In an excellent scene where we really get to meet the characters for the first time, Kolkotský and his wife pay his in-laws a visit at their house and they all get drunk. Tóno is angry at his brother-in-law for not doing more for him given his position as the town commander. Kolkotský surprises Tóno when he hands him a document, appointing him 'Aryan' manager of a Jewish button store (hence the shop on Main Street). You'll note that at this point, Tóno has no guilt feelings about making a deal with the devil, accepting the confiscation of the store (and his position as manager), as a fait accompli.When he arrives at the store, he finds it owned and operated by an elderly Jewish widow, Mrs. Lautmannová , who's hard of hearing and slightly senile. Kuchár, an accountant and righteous Gentile resistance fighter, reveals that Lautmannová primarily relies on donations from the Jewish community and most of the stock in the store is depleted. Nonetheless, Tóno agrees to an arrangement that if he acts as the 'Aryan manager', the Jewish community will pay him to look after Mrs. Lautmannová and make sure no harm comes to her. Gradually, Tóno takes a liking to Mrs. Lautmannová and when he learns that the Jewish community is about to be deported, he becomes a righteous Gentile and is determined to save her. Tóno becomes so militant for the just cause of sticking up for the Jews, that he ends up beating his bigoted wife, who is convinced that Mrs. Lautmannová is hoarding money. Unlike the famed Oskar Schindler and the Polish sewer worker, Socha, in the film 'In Darkness', Tóno is in a position where he can only attempt to save one Jew. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent to both Tóno (and the audience) that he has no chance of success in saving the elderly woman, especially after Kuchár is arrested for helping the Jewish community and dragged through the streets with a sign posted on his chest, 'Friend of the Jews', soon to meet a horrible, excruciating death.Directors Kadár and Klos are on solid ground by not glossing over the fact that a certain segment of Slovakian society was wickedly anti-semitic and actively collaborated with the Nazis in the deportation of the Jews. In fact, in 'The Shop on Main Street', you never see any Germans--the deportations are carried out by local Nazi supporters. Even those 'ordinary' people such as Tóno's wife, are not immune from basic prejudices as evidenced by her diatribe against Mrs. Lautmannová. Before his epiphany, Tóno is also unashamed, taking money from the Jewish community while participating in the illegal confiscation of Mrs. Lautmannová's shop.Despite Kadár and Klos' admirable chronicling of the dark side of a segment of the Slovakian people, they are still determined (as other filmmakers who come from countries who collaborated with the Nazis) to show that there were still good people amongst the bad apples. Kuchár is one of the good ones and Tóno becomes one. Unlike Schindler, Tóno is trapped and is forced to make a 'Sophie's Choice-like' decision. Shall he push Mrs. Lautmannová out the door into the waiting hands of the Fascist Guards? Or into a closet in order to hide her? SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD. Unfortunately, the 'push' is an ambivalent one--he's angry with her because her cause is hopeless and she should at least realize it but somehow he also is trying to think of a way he can save her. He ends up pushing her too hard into the closet and the ensuing fall causes her death.Are Kadár and Klos trying to assuage their own guilt by turning Tóno into a martyr? The message here is that not all Slovakians were bad during that time. But I think it would have been more realistic if Tóno lived with his guilt over Mrs. Lautmannová's death. His ambivalent actions, where at one point he's thinking about saving his own skin, were normal. By having him commit suicide, Tóno adopts a Christ-like mantle, unrepresentative of the average Slovakian's response to the harrowing reality of the times they were living in.

Even though there are of course tons of WW II movies out there already, this one still manages to stand out, also with is originality.First off all, because it tells the story from a side we haven't seen really all that often yet in a WW II movie; from the side of the Slovaks. The Slovak Republic was a fascist state during WW II but I believe few people know this from their history classes or any books or documentaries. So it's good and refreshing to see a bit of an unknown side of WW II for a change.But it's also quite refreshing and original in the way it approaches its subject. As weird as it might sound, this is a bit of a light hearted told movie, with some relieving comedy in it at times. A true tragicomedy of the greatest and most effective sort. It ensures that the movie is a 'pleasant' one to watch with its storytelling but at the same time it also doesn't let you forget you are watching a tragic holocaust movie here.But the characters also work out refreshing. It's great to see things progressing from an old and senile Jewish lady's point of view, who's oblivious to all of the dangers and things occurring outside of her small shop.It's truly a skilfully made and great looking movie. The movie perfectly captures the sense and atmosphere of a small average town, with everyday characters living in it. The black & white cinematography really adds a lot and the directing does a great job as well giving the movie lots of pace and to capture all of the emotions, from the view points of the main characters.And the movie does truly has some great characters in it. The earlier mentioned old lady is great but so is the true main character of the movie, played by Jozef Króner. You don't really know were is loyalty truly lies and what he will do once things start to go truly bad. It makes his character, as the overall movie, also quite unpredictable.I really liked the way the story was being told and constructed. This movie was a true pleasure to watch and the fact that its 'foreign', 'old' and in a 'strange language' really shouldn't scare people off. This is a great movie to watch for everybody and also of course about an historically important subject, that luckily doesn't get told too heavily but still not without making an impact as well. 8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

In 1942, in a small town in Czechoslovakia, the poor carpenter Tony Brtko (Jozef Króner) is assigned "Aryanizator" of a small shop on the main street by his fascist brother-in-law Mark Kolkotsky (Frantisek Zvarík). His greedy wife Evelyn (Hana Slivková) is seduced with the promise of fortune, but Tony finds that the store owned by the deaf and senile seventy year-old widow Rozalie Lautmann (Ida Kaminska) is bankrupted and the old lady is financially supported by the Jewish community that promises a salary to him to help her. Tony befriends Ms, Lautmann and helps her in the store and repairs her furniture, and lures his wife with his salary. When the Jews are expelled from the town by the fascist, Tony decides to help the old lady. "Obchod na Korze" is one of those movies that make you laugh and cry. The tragic-comic and heartbreaking story of a flawed Aryan man and a senile Jewish widow is very well developed and the viewer is able to understand the despair of the lead character absolutely powerless against the powers that be, in a village where everybody knows each other. His state of mind in the end with the whole situation associated to the booze drives him to his ultimate decision. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "A Pequena Loja da Rua Principal" ("The Little Shop of the Main Street")