AWARDS
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Academy Award (1966)
This haunting tragicomedy takes place during the early days of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Britko (Josef Kroner), a simple, amiable carpenter, is appointed "aryan controller" of a supposedly profitable Jewish shop. The shop's elderly proprietress (Ida Kaminska), a stubborn but lovable deaf widow, is oblivious to the war, and incapable of understanding why Britko is there. He tries to explain, but she doesn't understand and puts him to work as her assistant. When the Nazis begin deporting Jews, including the old woman, Britko is forced into a confrontation between trying to save the woman or passively complying with the policies of the Nazis.
Judith Crist, New York Herald Tribune
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