The Shop on Main Street
The Shop on Main Street is magnificent. An unforgiving tale of moral dilemma told with intellect and compassion. This is one of the most moving films I have ever seen.
The story follows Tono Brtko, a down-on-his-luck carpenter in a small town in Czechoslovakia. Set against the backdrop of post-invasion Europe, the town has embraced its new Nazi rule, abandoning its old ideology in favour of the Fascist Reich. As the brother-in-law of a ranking officer in the local military, Tono is gifted a Jewish store and given the title of Aryan Controller. But what seems like a gift soon reveals itself to be anything but. The party officials have already taken the best Jewish stores for themselves, leaving Tono with a crumbling mess.
And its owner? The beautiful Rozalia Lautmannová.
Rozalia is an elderly Jewish woman, showing many signs of dementia, with deafness to boot. She cannot comprehend that Tono now owns her store, so he plays along—he will be her employee. As the film unfolds, Tono finds himself caught between two worlds: a faithful companion and friend to Rozalia, and his anti-Semitic, opportunistic wife. His wife is a sweet woman, caring and considerate, but so is Rozalia. Why one must blindly hate the other for personal gain is something Tono cannot understand. Why anyone in his community would hate a woman or a man simply for their religion is beyond him. So he turns to drink. Through his dealings with the Jewish community, who protect and support Rozalia, he comes to understand his neighbours for their humanity, not their faith.
The weight of this newfound moral awakening reaches its height at the film’s climax, when, as in countless towns across Europe, the Jewish residents are ordered to pack no more than 30 kilograms of their belongings and are forced out of town to labour camps. Tono must decide whether to protect the older woman he has come to love and respect or cast her into the streets to save his own life. But how does one reason with a woman who has no concept of danger? No concept of war? No concept of Nazis? An impossible task, given to an ill-equipped man. For all his pure and good intentions, Tono cannot be anyone’s saviour. Not even his own.
The Tower as a Symbol of Tono’s Transformation
Serving as a thematic backdrop, the town is captivated by the towering construction of a monument dedicated to its new fascist ideology. This tower serves as a powerful symbol throughout the film, mirroring Tono’s inner journey. The first time he sees the tower, it represents a missed opportunity—a reminder of his failure as a man, a skilled carpenter unable to secure work. The second time, he walks into the square as an Aryan Controller, a business owner. Dressed in a pinstripe suit, he holds his head high. No longer a symbol of his failure, the tower is just that—a tower. Nothing more, nothing less. The third time, Tono has transformed. He is still self-serving, still self-interested, but now carries love in his heart for the community that has embraced him. He drinks to dull his guilt for taking money from the Jewish community. Surrounded by a crowd of proud fascist Czechs, he watches as an officer lights the tower for the first time. It is a symbol of the new order, of wealth and prosperity for the town’s inhabitants, and a death sentence for its Jewish residents. Tono is horrified. He must save Rozalia.
The tower marks three major turning points in Tono’s transformation. This is just one of the many ways the script and imagery in The Shop on Main Street are beautifully conceived.
Light
Light is used to great effect. Shot on high-contrast film, the directors and cinematographer meticulously craft long sequences where characters drop in and out of light and shadow at pivotal moments. Dilemma is a sliver of light in a darkened room. Emotional awakening bursts through in bounds of brightness, overflowing and rich. Tono spends much of the film shifting between shadow and light, and it is no mistake. His moral struggle plays out visually, reinforcing his transformation with elegant subtlety.
You would be hard-pressed to find another film in which the moral awakening and subsequent dilemma of a character are crafted so well. This is a film that stands among the greats—a true work of art.