Cubussoli
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
unnirad2011
This 2000 masterpiece is a creed apart from the usual holocaust narratives . Amazing to see that World War II is still a fertile ground for brilliant creations like this one . A rare mix of drama , realism , comedy , suspense and what all ? A wonderful message on how as flesh and blood humans good , evil and the undecided all are interdependent on each other , how we need to realise that there isn't anything pure evil or pure good . 1940 Czech town where the patriot , collaborator ( with the occupying Nazis ) , the hunted , the humanist all coexist and live out the everyday drama of survival against all odds .Finely wrapped in heart wrenching comedy this sure belongs to the league of true classics .Wonderful and brilliant use of symbolism , the strung out pork and the entrapped potential meat Jew , the perambulator cross over at the ghost town street with the hand cart carrying the post conflict rubble ... brilliant strokes of mastery !! A must watch for cinephiles and non cinephiles ... do not ever miss this one !!!
museumofdave
Certain significant subjects have been covered in cinema so often, and with brilliant results that one wonders if still another is needed. The Holocaust and the Nazi menace have certainly inspired numerous fine films, with Schindler's List and The Pianist and The Tin Drum and scores of others covering the subject exhaustively. Why then another? Perhaps we can never be reminded too often to look at humanity's recent history, and perhaps because the subject of civilized man treating his equals in such subhuman ways can , in careful hands, perhaps impart still another needed reminder. And sometimes a repeated story has subtleties not covered heretofore. Divided We Fall is a story similar to that of Anne Frank's, and the idea of community is examined with quirky humor under great stress, and the concept of friendship is questioned in a way that may make you examine your own ideas.This is a thoughtful film with many surprises in store, and an ending that does not disappoint; because you probably will not will not recognize most of the performers, there is a feeling of truth in character that pervades this often-tense, sometimes oddly funny study of a society assaulted.
MartinHafer
"Divided We Fall" is an odd little Czech film. That's because like at least one other reviewer pointed out here on IMDb, the distinction between the good and the bad in the film is not 100% clear--people are not all good or all bad in many cases. I like this, as too often films of the Nazi occupation are very black & white in their views. Now I am NOT defending the Nazis, but talking about those who worked with their Nazi overlords--who played the system yet, in some cases, managed to retain a bit of their humanity. I appreciated this very much and it reminded me of another very good film of this period--"The Shop on Main Street". It, too, managed to show an overlooked side of this period in Occupied Europe.In addition, the film had nice acting, an original script and was well worth seeing. However, I noticed that the film is listed as a comedy--and I am really not sure how accurate this is. Sure, there are a few absurd portions of the film--but funny?! No. But worth seeing.By the way, I have no idea why but portions of the DVD were slow--and I am not talking about the pacing but the actual speed of the action. It was as if portions were done in slightly slow-motion--and I have no idea why.By the way, if you haven't noticed it on IMDb, this movie was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for 2001. It lost to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", though I thought "Divided We Fall" was better (at least for my tastes).
bob the moo
In nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, Josef and Marie watch the Jewish family that employs them slowly have their liberties taken from them before eventually be shipped out to a camp. A few years later, David Weiner is the only member of the family left alive and he escapes the camp and returns home. Despite the extreme risks involved, Josef and Marie take him in and let him stay in a hollow cupboard. However with Josef's job with the Nazi's and their friendship with collaborator Horst, detection becomes increasingly likely.A comedy/drama set around the Jewish suffering of World War II? Strangely this concept is no longer an unique one as it has been done several times now, albeit along different lines. Here the film sees a Czech couple hiding a Jewish friend despite the risks involved, the film has a few very comic moments but generally it is rather a bittersweet tale where Josef and Marie have to go to extremes to keep their secret. The thrust of the film is about human nature and, in this regard the film does a reasonable job - although it is a little too subtle and gentle for my tastes.The comedy is at times almost farcical but is mostly gently comic more than anything else. It relies very much on the absurdity of the situation; I did have a problem with the fact that I always find the situation difficult to find amusing in the way the film expects me to. Direction is not much cop here. I have no problem with handheld cameras but in this film it used a sort of blurring effect where it feels like everything is running just a fraction too slow; the reason for this is not clear and it only serves to annoy as an empty stylish gesture.The characters are interesting and the main ones are quite well drawn. Polivka is good as Josef - a character it is difficult not to feel for; he is well supported by Siskova. Kassai's David is not as well used as I would have liked - in fact, marginally less screen time would have turned him into the human equivalent of a noir mcguffin! Dusek has one of the thankless roles but does very well with it - being a bit of a fool but still being human enough to hold sympathy.Overall this is a flawed film but is still worth seeing. It's comedy is occasionally funny but mostly it is just amusing in a bittersweet sort of way. As a more human tale it works quite well - or at least does near the end, you just need to stick with it a bit.
