Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos
The Shop on Main Street
Obchod na korze
Czechoslovakia / Slovak / 1965 / 2h 8m
- Criterion Collection
- Spine №130
- Connections
- View Connections
Synopsis
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.
