'The Shop on Main Street' was co-directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos. Klos was a Czeck and Kadár, a Slovak born in Hungary. The setting of the film is a small town in Slovakia during the early part of World War II. Slovakia (which became The First Slovak Republic) was the only country along with Germany and the Soviet Union to invade Poland when the war started. Slovakia was forced to declare independence by Germany and a puppet regime was set up with Jozef Tiso as president and Vojtech Tuka, Prime Minister. Tuka was far more radical than Tiso and headed the pro-Nazi wing of the Slovak People's Party. The wing was supported by the Hlinka Guard, who sported the double cross symbol on their uniforms. In the film, a giant tower featuring the double cross is built in the center of town. The deportation of the Jews (a key element of the plot) was facilitated by Tuka. Approximately 57,000 Jews were deported up until 1942, when various factions in Slovakia got wind that the Jews were not being deported to labor camps, but rather were being exterminated. The deportations stopped for about two years when Slovakia insisted that further deportations would affect their economy in a deleterious way. In 1944, a national insurrection against the Nazis (the Slovak National Uprising) led to a Nazi take-over of the country. Deportations of Jews began again and even as late as March 1945, large numbers of Jews were murdered.
'The Shop on Main Street' primarily addresses the issue of the ordinary man's response to living in a society under the yoke of fascist oppression. Our protagonist is Tóno Brtko, an often unemployed carpenter who lives in a modest home with his henpecking wife, Evelyna. Tóno's brother-in-law, Marku Kolkotský,is commander of the Fascist guards. In an excellent scene where we really get to meet the characters for the first time, Kolkotský and his wife pay his in-laws a visit at their house and they all get drunk. Tóno is angry at his brother-in-law for not doing more for him given his position as the town commander. Kolkotský surprises Tóno when he hands him a document, appointing him 'Aryan' manager of a Jewish button store (hence the shop on Main Street). You'll note that at this point, Tóno has no guilt feelings about making a deal with the devil, accepting the confiscation of the store (and his position as manager), as a fait accompli.
When he arrives at the store, he finds it owned and operated by an elderly Jewish widow, Mrs. Lautmannová , who's hard of hearing and slightly senile. Kuchár, an accountant and righteous Gentile resistance fighter, reveals that Lautmannová primarily relies on donations from the Jewish community and most of the stock in the store is depleted. Nonetheless, Tóno agrees to an arrangement that if he acts as the 'Aryan manager', the Jewish community will pay him to look after Mrs. Lautmannová and make sure no harm comes to her.
Gradually, Tóno takes a liking to Mrs. Lautmannová and when he learns that the Jewish community is about to be deported, he becomes a righteous Gentile and is determined to save her. Tóno becomes so militant for the just cause of sticking up for the Jews, that he ends up beating his bigoted wife, who is convinced that Mrs. Lautmannová is hoarding money. Unlike the famed Oskar Schindler and the Polish sewer worker, Socha, in the film 'In Darkness', Tóno is in a position where he can only attempt to save one Jew. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent to both Tóno (and the audience) that he has no chance of success in saving the elderly woman, especially after Kuchár is arrested for helping the Jewish community and dragged through the streets with a sign posted on his chest, 'Friend of the Jews', soon to meet a horrible, excruciating death.
Directors Kadár and Klos are on solid ground by not glossing over the fact that a certain segment of Slovakian society was wickedly anti-semitic and actively collaborated with the Nazis in the deportation of the Jews. In fact, in 'The Shop on Main Street', you never see any Germans--the deportations are carried out by local Nazi supporters. Even those 'ordinary' people such as Tóno's wife, are not immune from basic prejudices as evidenced by her diatribe against Mrs. Lautmannová. Before his epiphany, Tóno is also unashamed, taking money from the Jewish community while participating in the illegal confiscation of Mrs. Lautmannová's shop.
Despite Kadár and Klos' admirable chronicling of the dark side of a segment of the Slovakian people, they are still determined (as other filmmakers who come from countries who collaborated with the Nazis) to show that there were still good people amongst the bad apples. Kuchár is one of the good ones and Tóno becomes one. Unlike Schindler, Tóno is trapped and is forced to make a 'Sophie's Choice-like' decision. Shall he push Mrs. Lautmannová out the door into the waiting hands of the Fascist Guards? Or into a closet in order to hide her? SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD. Unfortunately, the 'push' is an ambivalent one--he's angry with her because her cause is hopeless and she should at least realize it but somehow he also is trying to think of a way he can save her. He ends up pushing her too hard into the closet and the ensuing fall causes her death.
Are Kadár and Klos trying to assuage their own guilt by turning Tóno into a martyr? The message here is that not all Slovakians were bad during that time. But I think it would have been more realistic if Tóno lived with his guilt over Mrs. Lautmannová's death. His ambivalent actions, where at one point he's thinking about saving his own skin, were normal. By having him commit suicide, Tóno adopts a Christ-like mantle, unrepresentative of the average Slovakian's response to the harrowing reality of the times they were living in.
'The Shop on Main Street' primarily addresses the issue of the ordinary man's response to living in a society under the yoke of fascist oppression. Our protagonist is Tóno Brtko, an often unemployed carpenter who lives in a modest home with his henpecking wife, Evelyna. Tóno's brother-in-law, Marku Kolkotský,is commander of the Fascist guards. In an excellent scene where we really get to meet the characters for the first time, Kolkotský and his wife pay his in-laws a visit at their house and they all get drunk. Tóno is angry at his brother-in-law for not doing more for him given his position as the town commander. Kolkotský surprises Tóno when he hands him a document, appointing him 'Aryan' manager of a Jewish button store (hence the shop on Main Street). You'll note that at this point, Tóno has no guilt feelings about making a deal with the devil, accepting the confiscation of the store (and his position as manager), as a fait accompli.
When he arrives at the store, he finds it owned and operated by an elderly Jewish widow, Mrs. Lautmannová , who's hard of hearing and slightly senile. Kuchár, an accountant and righteous Gentile resistance fighter, reveals that Lautmannová primarily relies on donations from the Jewish community and most of the stock in the store is depleted. Nonetheless, Tóno agrees to an arrangement that if he acts as the 'Aryan manager', the Jewish community will pay him to look after Mrs. Lautmannová and make sure no harm comes to her.
Gradually, Tóno takes a liking to Mrs. Lautmannová and when he learns that the Jewish community is about to be deported, he becomes a righteous Gentile and is determined to save her. Tóno becomes so militant for the just cause of sticking up for the Jews, that he ends up beating his bigoted wife, who is convinced that Mrs. Lautmannová is hoarding money. Unlike the famed Oskar Schindler and the Polish sewer worker, Socha, in the film 'In Darkness', Tóno is in a position where he can only attempt to save one Jew. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent to both Tóno (and the audience) that he has no chance of success in saving the elderly woman, especially after Kuchár is arrested for helping the Jewish community and dragged through the streets with a sign posted on his chest, 'Friend of the Jews', soon to meet a horrible, excruciating death.
Directors Kadár and Klos are on solid ground by not glossing over the fact that a certain segment of Slovakian society was wickedly anti-semitic and actively collaborated with the Nazis in the deportation of the Jews. In fact, in 'The Shop on Main Street', you never see any Germans--the deportations are carried out by local Nazi supporters. Even those 'ordinary' people such as Tóno's wife, are not immune from basic prejudices as evidenced by her diatribe against Mrs. Lautmannová. Before his epiphany, Tóno is also unashamed, taking money from the Jewish community while participating in the illegal confiscation of Mrs. Lautmannová's shop.
Despite Kadár and Klos' admirable chronicling of the dark side of a segment of the Slovakian people, they are still determined (as other filmmakers who come from countries who collaborated with the Nazis) to show that there were still good people amongst the bad apples. Kuchár is one of the good ones and Tóno becomes one. Unlike Schindler, Tóno is trapped and is forced to make a 'Sophie's Choice-like' decision. Shall he push Mrs. Lautmannová out the door into the waiting hands of the Fascist Guards? Or into a closet in order to hide her? SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD. Unfortunately, the 'push' is an ambivalent one--he's angry with her because her cause is hopeless and she should at least realize it but somehow he also is trying to think of a way he can save her. He ends up pushing her too hard into the closet and the ensuing fall causes her death.
Are Kadár and Klos trying to assuage their own guilt by turning Tóno into a martyr? The message here is that not all Slovakians were bad during that time. But I think it would have been more realistic if Tóno lived with his guilt over Mrs. Lautmannová's death. His ambivalent actions, where at one point he's thinking about saving his own skin, were normal. By having him commit suicide, Tóno adopts a Christ-like mantle, unrepresentative of the average Slovakian's response to the harrowing reality of the times they were living in.