zetes Mediocre WWII movie from the Czech Republic. Bolek Polivka and his wife Anna Siskova are just regular Czech citizens trying to survive the occupation when their former neighbor, a Jew, arrives at their doorstep having escaped the prison camps in Poland. They agree to hide him, but it's very dangerous, especially since a Nazi collaborator who wrongly considers himself to be their best friend often shows up at their door unannounced. This follows a fairly predictable plot line, but it gets bogged down in some soap opera-level stuff (Polivka is sterile but, through some corny plot machinations, Siskova is forced to sleep with the Jew so she becomes pregnant) and some misplaced comic sequences. The worst aspect of the film is the god-awful frame dropping technique the director employs through about a third of the film, which makes the action on screen jerky and nausea-inducing. I have no clue why he would do such a thing. The performances are universally good and there are definitely good moments, so I didn't dislike it, but it's forgettable. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar.

paul2001sw-1 In Krszysztof Kieslowski's brilliant film, 'No End', set in post-Solidarity Poland, a lawyer tells a dissident union leader: 'You decided to collaborate the day you decided not to throw yourself under a tank.' Which is of course true, but often forgotten in our easy condemnation of those who picked the wrong side in past wars. To have been a baker in occupied France, say, and to have continued with your work, draws no retrospective judgement; to have been a senior civil servant is to earn today the label of a Nazi. Of course, Nazism was almost uniquely repugnant, and yet could have been stopped had no-one collaborated; but those of us lucky enough not to have lived through the war need also be careful about setting up standards that we ourselves could not have met. 'Divided We Fall' is a Czech drama set in World War Two, whose strength is it's honesty is portraying both the courage of ordinary people, and also the limits of that courage. It's heroes become reluctant enemies of the Germans when they shelter a Jewish fugitive for initially just one night; and are then forced to follow through on their actions. Director Jan Hrebejk is rather too keen on the peculiar trick of shooting film with a reduced refresh rate, rather like an old silent movie, so that his characters' movements appear odd and jerky: I'm not too sure what this is supposed to achieve. The gloomy nature of the central protagonist also leads to a lack of tonal variation in the piece, he is terminally depressed even before he gets into trouble, and this pervasive mood of hopelessness takes some of the zing out of what at times feels a slow-paced movie. But the merit of this work is it's portrayal of real human beings, doing both good and bad things, for mixed motives, at times of intense pressure. 'Divided We Fall' might not be a great film; but it is a true one.

douglasalanyoung This is a film that confounds expectations repeatedly - it loves pulling the ground out from under you and just when you thought you knew what you were going! ..... but you don't really know where you are going - because, like you, like me, and like many of the characters in the film, you settle with stereotypes, quite ready to damn a person on superficial evidence until........ ....... well, actually until a lot.... and, for me, that 'lot' includes one of the best last 20 minutes of any film for a long timeReally good film-making!

drdancm-2 If I were to say that this film is one of the best film of its genre, it would not be fair, because it is one of the best movies, period.A terrific story is masterfully directed and acted, w beautiful cinematography, and music. Everything done with perfection. Here is a film that is Perfect.