Wir müssen zusammenhalten

Just saw this on BBC4 - extraordinary - it's the kind of achievement American (and British) screenwriters should practice for years to emulate. Robert McKee, see this film!

The writing, directing and acting are all superb, and in the service of a supremely human story beautifully constructed around timeless epic themes of man's inhumanity to man, war, and all the other big stuff. To separate these from the movie itself, though, would be to do it a great disservice.

The mix of laugh-out-loud humour, gripping thriller, and finally a well-earned and unsentimental tear-jerker of a last 15 minutes is the zenith of a movie-watching experience. "Divided We Fall" is very funny from the outset, but it doesn't take long for the filmmakers to skilfully tighten the knot with sudden character twists and brilliant writing early on. Once we're immersed in 1943 Czechoslovakia, we're not only rooting for the lead character Cizek, played immaculately by Bolek Polivka - a winning combination of contemporary earthy Brit character actor Philip Jackson and 20th century comedy genius Alistair Sim - we're feeling like we're there with him.

He and the ensemble cast play every beat of the story just right (there's even one moment midway through where the audience are maybe allowed to get a bit too far ahead of Polivka's character, but it's remedied by the performances). The visual flourishes, especially the effects of switching between film speeds and using a DV tape look, all enhance the narrative without intruding into it, and thus heighten the tension at unexpected moments. The costume and make-up designs bring the human stories to warm life; and set against war-torn 1940s backdrops, the production design could hardly go wrong.

A great treatment of a much depicted time and narrative that manages to make events feel fresh, real, scary, funny, dramatic, ultimately hugely moving...somehow many more people should get a chance, and be urged, to see this film.

I thought this was the original title as well, but even if it's not it's a great film. The acting is just great, these actors are all strangers to me and perhaps that helped, I don't know, but I loved each and every one of them, even the jerks. The script is top notch and the camera and music all conspire to make this one of the best films of the 'empty calorie' summer of 2001. It's a good sign for Czech films, this director is one to watch. I can't wait for his next film. Go and see this movie! ..

This movie is intelligent and thought provoking as it examines, without judgment, the human capacity for both good and evil in its portrayal of several citizens of a small town in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation. It is rare that a movie be harrowing, funny, sweet, and heart wrenching without being contrived. What distinguishes this movie about wartime loyalties and collaboration with the enemy from well worn cliches is its finely nuanced portrayal of each character. Not every collaborator is deserving of punishment and not every so called resistance fighter is a hero. It is an emotionally rewarding movie and it shows that human behavior cannot be reduced to a Manichean struggle.

'Life Is Beautiful' is often called a great 'holocaust comedy', but it pales in comparison to this. Life Is Beautiful awkwardly shifts between scenes that are supposed to be funny, and scenes that are supposed to be meaningful or sad or intense, as if Benigni was making a joke, then apologizing for it, then apologizing for being too serious, and making a joke again, and so on. This movie plays it straight pretty much, and everything just works. Particularly the scene with the hands in the bed, and the scene where Josef is taught how to make Nazi-like facial expressions are hilarious. The characterizations are very well done, particularly Horst, the horny scumbag of a Nazi who you get to like in the end. The movie is sometimes surreal. In many scenes the images are very jumpy and distorted, but that shows us what the characters are going through, effectively. The ending is maybe one of the greatest movie endings of all time. It's very surreal, and you can interpret it in many ways. Its abstraction is what helps to make it powerful. When many people create art that has to do with the holocaust, they often go out of their way just to show us that they are making a statement about how horrible the holocaust is, as if theyre afraid that we won't think that otherwise. Even the classic Schindler's List does that, I think. But this movie is a different kind of holocaust movie. It doesn't try hard to show us that the holocaust was bad, but it doesn't neglect how serious the holocaust was, either. The only complains I have about this movie is that it is often slow, and a little confusing at the beginning. It's not a completely perfect movie, but it's definitely a masterpiece of holocaust movies. All the schools that show kids Life Is Beautiful should definitely switch to this.

1st watched 12/5/2008 -(Dir-Jan Hrebejk): Well executed film about a couple in Czechoslovakia who house a Jewish friend during the Nazi occupation of the country. The storyline is really about how people can stick together despite their differences and this is where it shines. The initial credits start by showing us a strange segment passing thru three years where nothing really happens except the introduction of the Jewish character who is ratted on by a neighbor so that their own family will not be harmed. We then are introduced to the main couple in the story entertaining a Nazi friend. They decide to house the Jewish friend and the conflict begins. The conflict is the real possibility that the Jewish person will be found and the couple will be punished as well as the entire town. The wife is the most stable person while the husband almost takes on some of the nazi's attitudes during the period while they are housing their friend. The movie shows how fragile the entire period was with the fear imposed by the Nazi's and the ability they had in changing the culture to becoming suspect of everyone. The couple want a child but are unable to have one themselves, but then end up telling a nazi that they are unable to house him because the wife is pregnant. The husband then makes the Jewish friend pregnate the wife to cover up for this lie. So, the Jewish character, is in some ways still imprisoned even though he is not in a camp. In the end, the four main characters work together to survive after the Czech's take back over the country and this is how the movie got it's title. The excellent performances and story and the opportunity to visit another time and place are just part of the reason to watch this wonderful movie. Hopefully many others will see this DVD release and this very good movie.