The Shop on Main Street

Yes, it is true that The Shop on Main Street is about, in essence, a pretty important topic in our history. In any case, it must be acknowledged that this film is from Slovakia rather than Czechoslovakia. This is not to say that it is more about Slovak history than Czech one, as it is clear to me things were exactly the same in Czechia. But the Slovaks contributed more to this film’s creation. Anyway, what didn’t sit well with me was the affected Slovak language, where I kept missing every second line and I had hard time getting into the story. Another problem, however, was the cumbersome filmmaking, where one had to pay a lot of attention in order to perceive every detail and nuance of the story. (02/02/2013)

Of the three Czech/Czechoslovak winners of the prestigious Oscar so far, I think The Shop on Main Street is the film that deserves the golden statue the most. The initially slow story with a few humorous moments turns into a psychological drama with an inevitable ending. The film realistically depicts the atmosphere during the Second World War in one Slovak village. The natural and convincing acting of Jozef Kroner and Ida Kaminska adds to the film's quality. Of course, the most impressive sequence is the last scenes with the deportation of the Jews and the sad ending, which suddenly turns into a conclusion full of optimism, hope and redemption (I don't want to spoil it). In short, a very nice, authentic and well acted film that made me laugh, touched and amazed me - and that says it all. (06/05/2013)

I can’t believe that I missed this gem for so long. There have been many films with similar themes in the post-war wave of cinema, but patriotically I have to shout to the world that none can match the Czech Higher Principle and the Slovak The Shop on Main Street. An incredibly climactic and powerful story that the heroic performances of Kaminska and Kroner in particular make it gripping from the first minute to the last depressing shot. The Slovaks can be rightly proud, this film should have won more than one Oscar. 100% (01/13/2013)

A film so brilliant and so masterfully orchestrated and built up in the second half that it brings me to tears. One of the distinctive cornerstones of the mosaic called "The Golden Era of Czechoslovak cinema of the 1960s", and clear proof (one of many) that it was at that time when the greatest works of cinema in this country were made. The performances of Kroner and Kaminska are superb, the film was a well-deserved worldwide success at the time of its release (as evidenced by the Oscar and the unique Oscar nomination for Kaminska, which was a year too late in the history of this award); it's a pity that it’s almost unknown to today's young generation. (01/07/2013)

I've been struggling with accepting The Shop on Main Street for years and it's still like being at sea, once down, once up. The work of the Kadár/Klos duo will always be problematic because their joint ascension in the 1950s is one perversion after another. The Shop on Main Street has a theme comparable to the appeal of Zinnemann's The Search, which is nice, but the tragedy encapsulated in the character of Ida Kaminská is too complicated to be so easily eclipsed by Kroner's traditional citizen in moral distress. Unfortunately, today it is also difficult to understand the dialogues that sovereignly combine Slovak, German, and Yiddish. There could not be a more atypical film for Czechoslovak cinema, and yet it is the one that represented 20 years of State Film in its time and is now honored with the Academy Award as eternal and divine. (11/16/2014)