Proetektor

[Andrew666]

Protektor (2009) can only really be described as a modern film noir. Currently being shown at the 14th Jewish film festival in Miami, it is set in Prague before and during the second war and focuses on a Czech radio announcer and his Jewish wife and the compromises they must make in order to survive - sometimes willingly.



They are not particularly nice people, who in the modern era migh be described as money-grabbing Thatcher's children in the UK. In some ways, however, that's what makes it a noir. Here we have two flawed people who suddenly faced with the onslaught of Nazi ideology, find themselves having to respond in a damaged way that ultimately can only be described as heroic.

Starring Marek Daniel and Jana Plodkova, who looks great as a blonde, this is a movie not to be missed.

[stevemc]

Totally agree on "Protektor" -- saw this at SIFF in Seattle last year.

The arc of the plot is pure noir: flawed (yet not entirely unappealing) characters, flawed decisions, and a universe that that comes down hard on them.

Visually, this is a very inventive film, going from the glamorous, pre-war world into the nightmare of the thousand cuts of occupation, collaboration, and their impacts on individual characters, their relationships, and broader society.

Given the legacy of expressionist / noir filmmakers who escaped Nazi Europe, it's powerful to see a film about the corrosive effects on those who were left behind -- worn down, not ennobled, by their circumstances and choices.

See this if you can...