Review of Divided We Fall (2000) by Tommy 'See The Treasure' S — 07 Jun 2014

Set in Czechoslovakia 1939, Divided we fall is a poignant and surprisingly comic fable about a well-meaning couple who risk their own safety by offering refuge to a young Jewish man during the Nazi occupation. Director Jan Hrebejk and writer Peter Jarchovsky approach a dark aspect of history with a sense of humour and lightness, without ever undermining the gravity of the events at hand.

Josef and Marie(Bolek Polivka and Anna Siskova) are an affable Czechoslovak couple. Josef is an unemployed man who hates the Nazis and spends most of his time idling in his own apartment, and Marie is a loving housewife. They are unable to have children but Marie yearns for a child, frequently praying in secret to the Virgin Mary for some immaculate conception. They suffer the impromptu visits of a former employee of Josef's named Horst(Jaroslav Dusek), who now unabashedly works as a Nazi collaborator. Horst pretends to visit on behalf of Josef but it is blatantly obvious to the couple that he has a romantic interest in Marie. When Josef and Marie decide, after much timid consideration, to offer shelter to a young Jewish man named David(Csongor Kassai), they find themselves in a very risky and increasingly absurd situation.

This movie is not quite like any other World War II movie you've seen. It has a soft heart and is rich with humanity, but it also boasts a very cutting sense of humour. As the films main antagonist, Horst is far from a figure of one-eyed evil, but is instead presented as foppish figure who seems to just go along with the Nazi collaboration through some imagined notions of the esteem it might bring him. He is far from a likeable character but in general he is perceived as much more idiotic than malicious. Perhaps what director Hrebejk is saying is that men like Horst were merely puppets of a much greater evil. As Josef contemplates at one point:

'You wouldn't believe what abnormal times can do to normal people.'.

As the movies reluctant hero, Josef, Bolek Polivka is absolutely brilliant. I'd seen Polivka act in another of Hrebejk's movies, ''Cosy Dens'' (a film which remains immensely popularity in the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and he has one of those effortlessly winning screen presences. I've recently learnt that he is also a trained mime artist, which didn't surprise me in the least. Every emotion the character is going through- be it fear, cowardice, or utter bemusement at the situation in which he finds himself- is accurately conveyed by his incredible expressive visage. Anna Siskova is also excellent as his sweet and vulnerable wife, and Csonger Kosser is convincing as the shellshocked and frightened young man. These characters are complex and defy simplistic analysis. The good characters have their moments of regression and the more grotesque characters have their moments of goodness and tenderness. Jaroslav Dusek gives a splendidly comic performance as the movies dandyish villain, simultaneously capturing the character's insecurities and flaws.

Dirctor Hrejbek does an excellent job of keeping all the rather absurd events of the story rooted in the commonplace. Take the scene where Josef and Marie show David to his place of refuge. As if fussing over a guest, the willing couple accommodate the fugitive David with his closet-sized hiding-place to be. As Marie initiates David in the secret code for danger(a mouse-like scratch on the door) Josef smirks sardonically. The scene is not played for laughs but is naturally amusing nonetheless. Without ever underestimating the seriousness of the situation or the sense of risk, the characters are always given room to be sarcastic and endearing in a very human way. The story is light and entertaining but is also morally complex. Poor Josef learns that doing the right thing does not necessarily reap many rewards. To keep Horst from sniffing at his doorstep he accepts a job as a collaborator, a decision which besmirches his neighbourhood reputation. One of the most endearing aspects of the story is how Marie forms a sweet, maternal bond with the emaciated and vulnerable David, which, given her inability to have children, adds a real poignancy to the story.