Divided We Fall (2000)

Load of rubbish!!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I would say under most circumstances the following is true: It is difficult to make a film that is poignant, funny, suspenseful, and inspirational. I would say it's impossible to make a film that is poignant, funny, suspenseful, and inspirational about World War II that takes place in a country under Nazi reign.Yet the Czech film "Divided We Fall" from 2000 succeeds in this due to vivid, realistic characterizations, a powerful story, great acting, and marvelous direction. It's a film about desperate people in desperate times doing desperate things, and how some people's consciences won't allow them do the wrong thing. Josef and Marie Cizek are a couple in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia. The great heartbreak, at least in Marie's eyes, is that she cannot have a child. Josef feels it's better not to bring a child into the world they are currently living in. As his leg was broken in three places, he is now disabled.Their neighbors, the Wieners, are taken from their home and deported to Theresienstadt and finally to a Polish camp (probably Auschwitz). Four years later, the son, David, manages to escape, is found by Josef and taken in. They hide him in a pantry in their home. Unfortunately for Josef and Marie, they have a friend, Horst Prohazka, a Nazi collaborator who often visits - unannounced. He's attracted to Marie so he's a constant visitor. In order to keep their secret, the Cizeks make some desperate choices, demonstrating the terrifying situation in which they are living. For one thing, Josef goes to work with Horst taking inventory of Jewish merchandise that has been taken, so that he himself looks like a collaborator. And that's the least of what he and his wife do.The lesson here has to do with the heroism of ordinary, everyday people, and the weaknesses of ordinary, everyday people, both groups trying to survive. It shows us the power of forgiveness, along with an underlying religious symbolism. There is some wonderful comedy to be had here, particularly when Josef is taught by Horst how to make his facial expressions blank so no one knows what he's thinking. The last half hour of the film is harrowing, suspenseful, and glorious.The cast - Bolek Polívka as Joseph, Anna Sisková as Marie, Csongor Kassai as David, and Jaroslav Dusek as Horst are fantastic. I mean, you just want to kill Horst, he's so annoying and awful. That's a good actor for you.See this - you can rent it at Netflix or purchase it on DVD.

"Musíme si pomáhat" or "Divided We Fall" is a Czech 2-hour film from 2000. Because of its Oscar nomination it is the most known work by writer and director Jan Hrebejk and also one of the most known Czech films from the last two decades. Most of the language is Czech, but there are also German parts in here. From the cast, I will only mention lead actor Bolek Polívka, because he was pretty tremendous, but the supporting players were all good too and deserving of the awards attention they received. This is a film about the prosecution of Jews by the Nazis between the years 1933 and 1945, this time in the Czech Republic. A family has to witness how a Jewish family gets arrested and taken out of her home. Some time later, we find out that only one of them had survived and asks the family that watched back then for help. So, despite risking their own lives, they agree to take him in and hide him from the Nazi officers. A major problem here is that the family has a friend and neighbor who is very loyal to the Nazi party and quickly suspects that something's fishy there with the strange recent behavior from the family. This is one of the major conflicts of this film.I must say this movie was quite a challenge. There are many films out there about the prosecution of Jews, about World War II and about Nazi Germany, so it is always difficult to make something new and refreshing about the subject, but Hrebejk certainly succeeded here. The best about this movie is that it is a fairly simple story and there are not too many characters involved really, actually just 4 for the most part. So it had great focus and it is also very challenging to make a film on this subject and still manage to make people laugh or at least smile on some occasions. There were definitely some entertaining moments in here from a fun perspective and the most important thing is that they felt authentic, not rushed in, but they just fit in with the story. And last but not least, the movie also managed to be emotional and touching on many occasions, also fairly sad sometimes (such as the scene where they had to make a baby to avoid danger), which adds another dimension to it. Character development is okay as well. Most of the people stay exactly the character who they are early on, but there is one major exception and actually those who don't change aren't bad either as we find out more and more about them as the film continues. I genuinely enjoyed the watch here. This is one of my favorite films about the difficult years between 1933 and 1945. I highly recommend the watch to everybody with an interest in the subject. Glad to see it got the Oscar nomination. It would have made a great winner too.

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!

This film is so touching!This film does not try to depict war on a massive scale like' The Pianist', but on an individual level like 'Life Is Beautiful'. The storyline is simple, and yet effective. People do extreme things to survive, and this is portrayed effectively in this film. There is no history lesson here, no boring details, just plain portrayal of civilians' lives. Although 'Life Is Beautiful' remains THE most beautiful film ever made, and my all time favorite film, this film is truly touching and inspiring.