Divided We Fall

Divided We Fall focuses on the experience of one couple in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. Faced with the choice of sheltering David Wiener, the son of a Jewish industrialist, or sending him out to sure death on the streets, Josef and Marie risk death by taking him in. Reluctant at first, Josef and Marie deal with each crisis as it comes to their home. Theirs is a domestic drama set against the background of the Holocaust, and it is studded with humour, even slapstick. A bold, unsteady comedy about resistance and collaboration, Jan Hrebejk's Oscar-nominated Divided We Fall renews the tradition of humanist absurdity that pervaded Czech cinema in the 60Õs. The film focuses on the psychological toll of war, taking an unblinking look at the terror that Nazi occupation visited on ordinary Czech citizens, the complex choices and moral compromises they were forced to make, and how they unaccountably retained a sense of humour through it all. No one's entirely good or bad, hero or villain; rather, each character adapts to the circumstances he is faced with as best he can, trying to maintain some semblance of decency in an atmosphere of oppression, mistrust and mortal danger. The result is a powerful reminder of a sordid chapter of history we can not afford to forget.