Monthly Film Bulletin

Reviewed by B.D. , January 1962

Czechoslavakia, 1942, during the Nazi Occupation. Hana, a Jewish schoolgirl, escapes when her family are taken away to the ghetto. She meets Pavel, an 18-year-old boy, who hides her in his mother's storeroom in the attic of an apartment house. Ile brings her food, drink and books and his daily visits become her only contact with the outside world. Pavel has to resort to all kinds of stratagems to get food for her, and after the assassination of Heydrich and the consequent bloody reprisals he goes in daily fear of being discovered. His terror is all the greater because of the strong affection which has grown up between them. Eventually a collaborator living in the house discovers Hana and she, realising that Pavel must suffer if his part becomes known, walks out of the house to be shot by the waiting Nazis.

Jiri Weiss has been quoted as saying that he was attracted to Otcenasek's novel firstly as a love story, and only secondly because of its social and political implications. Yet the love element in the film is almost negligible. The affection which grows between the hero and heroine is a natural result of their peculiar circumstances and has nothing to do with passion. What seems to matter is not so much the relationship between these two young people as its effect on the boy's everyday life. Whatever may have been the director's intention, the casting alone was bound to tilt the emphasis in this direction. Dana Smutná's classically beautiful features are lingered over time and again by a camera which is never able to surprise an effect of emotion or animation. In the circumstances the burden is carried by the volatile Ivan Mistrik as Pavel, and he is most effective in the scenes at home or at school where the weight of his secret bears most heavily upon him. Weiss has caught the feeling of fear and oppression with admirable economy and restraint. We never see the Nazis in action but their presence hovers menacingly in the air. Each day the ordinary commerce of living brings its moral dilemmas. It is this ability to communicate the atmosphere of tyranny which is the film's justification and its achievement. An achievement all the more remarkable for a Czech director who spent the war years in Britain.


Variety

Reviewed by Gene Moskowitz, September 1960

A youth hides a Jewish girl in the family garret room during the occupation of Prague in the last World War. Love grows amid the hatred and danger only to be destroyed by human cowardice and misunderstanding. The subject has been done before but this has a power, tenderness and dramatic impetus which makes it worth saying again. It is a possible arty entry abroad but difficult for general chances except for lingo houses.

The girl has come to see a family recently sent off to a concentration camp and is hidden by the boy. Their fear is slowly dissipated as love grows, but is Intensified when German reprisals grow after the murder of the Hangman of Prague. This leads to her discovery and sacrifice for the boy.

Director Jiri Weiss has given this a simple, firm mounting which allows the characters to grow while the terror of the war is omnipresent. Dana Smutna has poise and can give depth to her portrait of the doomed Jewish girl which is enhanced by a handsome and expressive face. All others perform well under the guidance of the director. This is another moving war film that transcends its theme in depicting love in wartime ruins and restrictions. Technican credits are topnotch. The film won the Grand Prix at the recent San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.