Divided We Fall

Set in a small Czech village over the course of the War, Divided We Fall primarily follows married couple Josef (Polivka) and Marie Cizek (Sikova). A childless couple approaching their middle age, they live in a respectable area of town and seem to be just waiting for the war to end. After the son of Josef's former employer escapes from a Nazi death camp and returns home, the Cizeks reluctantly take him in. However, a one time workmate of Josef's and secret admirer of Marie, Horst Prohaska (Dusek) has fully embraced the Third Reich and his constant interfering in the Cizek's lives leads to some complications.

Although it's extremely funny in places, Divided We Fall's primary merits lie with the understated and extremely efficient direction and the multi-layered narrative. Co-written by the director and Petr Jarchovsky, their script is brimming with fine comedic episodes but more importantly, they never attempt to offer easily digestible caricatures of good and evil in Divided We Fall, giving the movie an extra dimension. The performances are extremely well judged with Jaroslav Dusek in excellent form, and Boleslav Polivka giving a richly detailed portrait of the long-suffering Josef.