The Shop on Main Street (1965)
The Shop on the Main Street (1965), directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, is a 128-minute black-and-white drama and a landmark of Slovak and Czechoslovak cinema. Shot on 35 mm film, the movie is set in a small Slovak town during World War II and tells the story of Tóno Brtko, a modest Slovak carpenter who is appointed "Aryan controller" of a shop owned by an elderly Jewish widow, Mrs. Lautmannová.
Based on a story by Ladislav Grosman, who also co-wrote the screenplay, the film masterfully blends tragic irony and psychological depth. The cinematography by Vladimír Novotný and the haunting score by Zdeněk Liška enhance the film’s emotional and moral weight.
A poignant reflection on complicity, conscience, and the human cost of fascism, The Shop on the Main Street became the first Czechoslovak film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1966.
︎︎︎ Watch Obchod na korze (1965) at kviff.tv
