Alicia I love this movie so much

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

morrison-dylan-fan Gathering up the last batch of Czech New Wave (CNW) titles from the Cold War era to view over April,I got an E-Mail from a DVD seller (who is a big fan of Czech cinema) telling me that he had recently tracked down a fascinating CNW War movie.With having recently picked up other Czech War titles,I decided that it would be a good time to meet the fifth horseman.The plot-WWII-Nazi Occupied Prague:Forbidden from working as a doctor by the Nazis,Jewish doctor Braun tries to survive by doing a desk job where he lists all the confiscated Jewish property.Going home to his flat,Braun finds an injured resistance fighter laying outside the apartment building.Taking the fighter into his flat under darkness,Braun discovers that the injured man is in desperate need of morphine to help heal his wounds.Knowing the risks that he is taking and suspecting that there is an informant in the building,Braun decides that he cant's let the horsemen of fear destroy his beliefs. View on the film:Largely filmed on location,co-writer/(along with Hana Belohradska/ Ota Koval & Ester Krumbachová) director Zbynek Brynych and cinematographer Jan Kalis showcase the effects that the Cold War was having on the country,with the grubby CNW black and white photography pulling every rotting building and burnt-out street on the screen,as solid pelts of rain hit Braun across the face.Finding beauty in the dirt, Brynych gradually sinks the block of flats into a pit of utter despair,where elegantly hit whip-pans spins an unrelenting atmosphere of fear over the title.Getting out to cinemas just before the soon to be occupying Soviet Union were to ban it,the writers display a remarkable quality in allegorically commenting on both the former Nazi Occupation,and the oncoming Soviet Union Occupation.Holding everyone up in the flats,the writers hit the Soviet Union with a merciless force,by making the flats a place where the occupying forces push the inhibitions of the flats/country into oppression,and the idea of "naming names" is thinly excused as keeping the country safe.Placing a voice of humanity in the centre of the film, Miroslav Machácek gives an incredible performance as Dr. Braun,thanks to Braun being given a humble appearance,which is delicately torn by Machácek,in desperation of stopping the fifth horseman in his tracks.

Jim Limbach This is the most overlooked film I have seen and I have seen thousands. It doesn't appear in Maltin's book of 17,000 reviews. It is basically a day in the life of a Jewish doctor who is exempted from removal by Nazis because they can use his services. He risks his life helping the underground. In one gut wrenching scene he observes young women in a large shower room. For a moment you wonder if gas will come from the showerheads but it's water and there is a lovely lyrical voyeuristic few seconds before the camera cuts abruptly to the women being distributed to disrobing waiting SS officers. This is not an easy film to watch. It challenges the viewer's imagination with the "What would I do?" question throughout.

Froma Zeitlin The Fifth Horseman is Fear is one of those remarkable classics of the Czech so-called New Wave film making, until it was suppressed by the Communist government (and this film, incidentally was banned there). This is one of my most favorite films and I have been waiting and waiting for it to become available (it used to be distributed by Orion Films). Finally, the DVD was issued, and I discovered that one of the key scenes is omitted. This scene, the protagonist's visit to a Nazi brothel (in the course of his search for morphine for the wounded resistance fighter) was one of the original highlights of an already wonderful film. So what happened? Was it censored in the copy that the DVD people used? If anyone has any information about this or as to how I can find the "real" thing, I'd be grateful.

LONNISAN I remember seeing this film when I was much younger and was so taken / moved by it that I've been trying to find it to own. The depiction of the main character's descent into near madness by the evil Nazi occupiers is probably one of the finest performances ever! This movie should DEFINITELY be taped and released as soon as possible.