Directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos • 1965 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Idá Kaminská, Josef Kroner, František Zvarík
An inept Slovak peasant is torn between greed and guilt when the Nazi-backed bosses of his town appoint him “Aryan controller” of an old Jewish widow’s button shop. Humor and tragedy fuse in this scathing exploration of one cowardly man’s complicity in the horrors of a totalitarian regime. Made near the height of Soviet oppression in Czechoslovakia, THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET features intense editing and camera work which won it the Academy Award for best foreign film in 1965.
Up Next in Czechoslovak New Wave
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Intimate Lighting
Directed by Ivan Passer • 1965 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Zdenek Bezusek, Karel Blazek, Vera KresadlováOne of the most beloved films of the Czechoslovak New Wave, this digressive, easygoing slice of life takes place over the course of a weekend in a provincial town where a musician returns, alon...
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The Junk Shop
Directed by Juraj Herz • 1965 • Czechoslovakia
In his debut film, Juraj Herz adapts Bohumil Hrabal's story about a man who works in a junk shop.
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Daisies
Directed by Věra Chytilová • 1966 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová, Marie ČeškováIf the entire world is bad, why shouldn’t we be? Adopting this insolent attitude as their guiding philosophy, a pair of hedonistic young women (Ivana Karbanová and Jitka Cerhová), both named...
