Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Shop On Main Street
Directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos
Shop on Main Street has a unique take about the Holocaust by relating the story mainly through the eyes of a non Jew. Our protagonist is a poor carpenter, Tony Brtko (Josef Kroner) who has a greedy and nagging wife Evelyn (Hana Slivkova). His bad blood with fascist leader soldier, brother-in-law Mark (Frantisek Zvarik) was broken after the latter bought over him with gifts and an authorization letter to take over a Jewish button shop, owned by elderly Rosalie Lautmann (Ida Kaminska). Mrs. Lautmann turns out to be almost deaf and the man is unable to communicate the situation to her. Instead of becoming the manager of the shop, Tony becomes her assistant and works at restoring her furniture instead.
Shop on Main Street is uncharacteristic of most Holocaust films in many ways. Like Schindler’s list, it offers the perception through a non Jew and how they helped those in plight to escape from tragedy.
Unlike most Holocaust films, it has a light comedy touch to it shown through the ridiculousness of the situation. Mrs. Lautmann who is unable to grasp the situation when Brtko is made manager is most hilarious.
Brtko who is our central character, is an everyday man, an anti-hero. He seems to harbour no political affiliations and tries to be kind and decent even though materialistic gains does sway him over. He dislikes his brother in law initially due to a possible earlier misunderstanding but was bought over when the man made him manager of the button shop. He goes into a deal with the Jew lovers upon finding out that he has been made a fool again; only hoping to be able to take back a salary to appease his wife.
The allegory of Brtko, as the carpenter, like Jesus, is a moot point. Brtko, it seems is more concerned about working with his hands through restoring the furniture in the shop and the structure at the town centre. His fascination brings us to perceive that our man is someone who, besides being concerned with himself, has no morals and merely guided by a sense of diligence to work and just trying to be decent.
The sequence where Brtko is torn between trying to expose or hide Mrs. Lautmann not only reveals a personal confrontation of the character; but is a metaphor of the Holocaust on a wider scale.
It is apparent that not any one can choose to be a hero or a martyr. That in crisis, hiding does not resolve the problem.
Jiyan
Directed by Jano Rosebiani
Directed like a documentary, Jano Rosebiani’s Jiyan is the tragedy of Kurdistan when Saddam Hussein made a chemical and biological attack in Halabja. The plight of these people went largely ignored because, as the protagonist, Diyari said and I requote, “they had no allies”
Diyari (Kurdo Galali) is an American ex kurd who has come back to his hometown to build an orphanage for the victims after the bombing. During his trip, he would meet the people who have been affected by the attack and a little girl, Jiyan, whom he developed an affection for, and would name the orphanage after.
Jiyan is affectedly moving but optimistically progressive towards rebuilding a better humankind through the characters, who seem determined to continue their life with strength and pride.
Jiyan presence as a child with a scarred cheek symbolizes the innocence of the new generation who will need to endure and overcome the hardship of the tragedy. Her dreams of sleeping in red roses and having a beautiful garden are dreams of achieving beauty stuck in stark reality.
Even Dwarfs Start Small
Directed by Werner Herzog
Even Dwarfs Start Small can be a tiring film because of the repetition of scenes. A film with hardly any linear progression, a group of small people rebelled against the establishment by destroying anything within the compounds when it captured one of them as a hostage.
They go around thrashing typewriters, set fire, made fun of the blind inmates and do any form of damage their hands can lay on. It’s hard to fathom what Werner was thinking when he made this film.
Critics have likened it to allegories of the self-defeating societal system whereby anarchy results in destruction of humankind. Left and right wingers took it as a philosophical assault which made it a controversial film that pleased no one when it was first released. It seems, these parables can be read through open ended imagery such as the moving truck in circles, the camel that shits, the chickens, and the blind inmates who wards off their attackers using sticks.
What’s irritating about the film and has yet to be pointed out; are the small people’s laughter which is eerily childllike yet evil sounding at the same time.
Directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos
Shop on Main Street has a unique take about the Holocaust by relating the story mainly through the eyes of a non Jew. Our protagonist is a poor carpenter, Tony Brtko (Josef Kroner) who has a greedy and nagging wife Evelyn (Hana Slivkova). His bad blood with fascist leader soldier, brother-in-law Mark (Frantisek Zvarik) was broken after the latter bought over him with gifts and an authorization letter to take over a Jewish button shop, owned by elderly Rosalie Lautmann (Ida Kaminska). Mrs. Lautmann turns out to be almost deaf and the man is unable to communicate the situation to her. Instead of becoming the manager of the shop, Tony becomes her assistant and works at restoring her furniture instead.
Shop on Main Street is uncharacteristic of most Holocaust films in many ways. Like Schindler’s list, it offers the perception through a non Jew and how they helped those in plight to escape from tragedy.
Unlike most Holocaust films, it has a light comedy touch to it shown through the ridiculousness of the situation. Mrs. Lautmann who is unable to grasp the situation when Brtko is made manager is most hilarious.
Brtko who is our central character, is an everyday man, an anti-hero. He seems to harbour no political affiliations and tries to be kind and decent even though materialistic gains does sway him over. He dislikes his brother in law initially due to a possible earlier misunderstanding but was bought over when the man made him manager of the button shop. He goes into a deal with the Jew lovers upon finding out that he has been made a fool again; only hoping to be able to take back a salary to appease his wife.
The allegory of Brtko, as the carpenter, like Jesus, is a moot point. Brtko, it seems is more concerned about working with his hands through restoring the furniture in the shop and the structure at the town centre. His fascination brings us to perceive that our man is someone who, besides being concerned with himself, has no morals and merely guided by a sense of diligence to work and just trying to be decent.
The sequence where Brtko is torn between trying to expose or hide Mrs. Lautmann not only reveals a personal confrontation of the character; but is a metaphor of the Holocaust on a wider scale.
It is apparent that not any one can choose to be a hero or a martyr. That in crisis, hiding does not resolve the problem.
Jiyan
Directed by Jano Rosebiani
Directed like a documentary, Jano Rosebiani’s Jiyan is the tragedy of Kurdistan when Saddam Hussein made a chemical and biological attack in Halabja. The plight of these people went largely ignored because, as the protagonist, Diyari said and I requote, “they had no allies”
Diyari (Kurdo Galali) is an American ex kurd who has come back to his hometown to build an orphanage for the victims after the bombing. During his trip, he would meet the people who have been affected by the attack and a little girl, Jiyan, whom he developed an affection for, and would name the orphanage after.
Jiyan is affectedly moving but optimistically progressive towards rebuilding a better humankind through the characters, who seem determined to continue their life with strength and pride.
Jiyan presence as a child with a scarred cheek symbolizes the innocence of the new generation who will need to endure and overcome the hardship of the tragedy. Her dreams of sleeping in red roses and having a beautiful garden are dreams of achieving beauty stuck in stark reality.
Even Dwarfs Start Small
Directed by Werner Herzog
Even Dwarfs Start Small can be a tiring film because of the repetition of scenes. A film with hardly any linear progression, a group of small people rebelled against the establishment by destroying anything within the compounds when it captured one of them as a hostage.
They go around thrashing typewriters, set fire, made fun of the blind inmates and do any form of damage their hands can lay on. It’s hard to fathom what Werner was thinking when he made this film.
Critics have likened it to allegories of the self-defeating societal system whereby anarchy results in destruction of humankind. Left and right wingers took it as a philosophical assault which made it a controversial film that pleased no one when it was first released. It seems, these parables can be read through open ended imagery such as the moving truck in circles, the camel that shits, the chickens, and the blind inmates who wards off their attackers using sticks.
What’s irritating about the film and has yet to be pointed out; are the small people’s laughter which is eerily childllike yet evil sounding at the same time.
