Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Shop on the High Street Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 6, 2016

Winner of Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Ján Kadar and Elmar Klos' "The Shop on Main Street" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Second Run. The supplemental features on the disc include a gallery of archival promotional materials from the U.S. and new filmed appreciation by critic Michael Brooke. The release also arrives with 20-page illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Peter Hames and technical materials. In Slovak, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The Aryan controller

A short text immediately after the opening credits clarifies that the year is 1942. The location is a small town somewhere in the heart of the recently legitimized Slovak state. People here are aware that there has been plenty of political and military activity across Europe after Hitler’s occupation of Czechoslovakia, but they are focused on providing for their families.

Tono Brtko (Jozef Króner) is a carpenter who has had a rough time because there simply isn’t enough work for people like him. His wife (Hana Slivkova) loves him but refuses to believe that he does everything he can to make their life easier. The two frequently argue, and it is Tono’s wife that typically has the last word.

The frustrated Tono finally gets a break when his brother-in-law (Markus Kolkocký), an ambitious fascist officer, offers him to become an Aryan controller. He explains to Tono that his new ‘job’ will be simple and easy -- as the town is slowly transformed by the fascist regime, Tono will take over a small button store on the Main Street and continue to do what the current elderly Jewish owner, the widow Mrs. Lautmanova (Ida Kaminska), does.

But when Tono meets the almost completely deaf Mrs. Lautmanova and attempts to explain to her the exact meaning of the text in his appointment letter, she assumes that he is looking for a job and promptly hires him to be her assistant. Then a local accountant, Imro Kuchar (Martin Hollý), casually reveals to Tono that Mrs. Lautmanova actually relies on donations from the local Jewish community to make ends meet.

Despite various minor setbacks Tono and Mrs. Lautmanova find a way to coexist, but their relationship is put to the test when the fascists round up the town’s Jewish citizens and announce that they will be transported to the concentration camps.

Based on a story and screenplay by Ladislav Grosman, Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos’ The Shop on Main Street is a film of very unusual contrasts. Indeed, a good portion of it plays out as a light comedy about a man who seems to have run out of luck and for various odd reasons keeps complicating his life. The bulk of the material here reminds of that seen in the many classic commedia all'italiana films (see the early work of Lina Wertmuller and Luciano Salce). The rest has the identity of a neorealist drama. The town’s quiet but dangerous transformation is captured without the soapy and at times quite suspicious melodrama that is typically present in other similarly themed films from the former Soviet Bloc (Soviet and Bulgarian films from the late 1960s and early 1970s can be great examples).

There is a direct and very important relationship between the contrasts and the psychological element in the story. While Tono struggles to please his demanding wife and take over the shop, he begins to realize that he is slowly becoming a senseless brute like his brother-in-law. And the more uncomfortable he feels with his new role, the clearer it becomes that he actually isn’t the only one trying to come to terms with the new reality in town. On the opposite end is Mrs. Lautmanova, who does not read properly Tono’s reactions or understand what is happening around her. As a result, a strange vacuum emerges between the two, which is actually a mini replica of the dangerous atmosphere that made the extermination of hundreds of thousands of Jewish communities across Europe possible.

The two leads are sensational. Kroner really does look like a drunkard who struggles with some powerful demon that is trying to force him to stop caring about the elderly woman. Kaminska is equally convincing as the lonely widow who cannot believe that pure evil has suddenly corrupted her home town.

The Shop on the High Street Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.38:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos' The Shop on Main Street arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British label Second Run.

There are obvious improvements in terms of density and in some areas clarity and detail. Especially on larger screens a lot of these improvements are quite obvious. However, the current presentation lacks the type of consistency that we have come to expect from recent restorations of classic period films. For example, various large damage marks and scratches remain, and in some areas transitions are quite problematic. Brightness levels fluctuate as well, though there are no serious anomalies to report. The biggest issue is the persistent flatness that is visible during daylight and nighttime/darker footage. Indeed, it is easy to see that denoising corrections have been applied to rebalance the image, and that these corrections have actually impacted depth by introducing various unnatural blocks of gray. (You can see the flatness in screencaptures #8, 10, and 19). The good news is that no attempts were made to repolish the film and as a result some of its organic qualities have been retained. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

The Shop on the High Street Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Slovak LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

There are a few minor pops that can be heard here and there, but clarity and depth remain consistently pleasing. Also, there are no balance issues to report. The overall range of nuanced dynamics is limited, but this is hardly surprising for a period film of this caliber. There are no digital distortions.

The Shop on the High Street Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Video Essay - presented here is a new video essay on the history and significance of The Shop on Main Street by film critic Michael Brooke. The essay was produced exclusively for Second Run. In English, not subtitled. (40 min).

• Original U.S. Press Kit - presented here is a collection of archival promotional materials for Rge Shop on Main Street from the U.S.

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Peter Hames and technical materials.

The Shop on the High Street Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

An ordinary Slovak carpenter witnesses the profound transformation of his home town during the early 1940s in this brilliant film from Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos. There are a lot of other films that have recreated this specific period in other countries across Europe, but very few, if any, are as sincere and genuinely moving as The Shop on Main Street. Second Run's technical presentation is very good, but the film needs to be fully restored so that it looks as good as it should on Blu-ray. RECOMMENDED.