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The Best the World Has to Offer
Boston Jewish Film Festival presents The Protektor
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Often lost in the glitz and glamour of American movie awards season are the film submissions from across the pond. Once in a blue moon there are films that capture the general population’s attention, even becoming nominated for awards in the main categories (as was the case in Italian Roberto Bellini’s much-loved classic La vita è bella in 1997), but most of the time the best that cinema has to offer from around the world gets little love from the vast majority of American viewers. This is due in large part to the relative unavailability of foreign films, even those nominated for major awards. This Tuesday, March 2, The Boston Jewish Film Festival will present The Protektor, a 2009 Academy Award official submission for Best Foreign Film from the Czech Republic.
The film, directed by Marek Najbrt, follows the lives of a married couple living with the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Hana (Jana Plodkova) and Emil (Marek Daniel) find themselves in increasingly separate lives. Hana, an actress whose impending stardom has been squashed because of the war, is a Jewish woman behind enemy lines. Emil, finds refuge in his position as a radio reporter. In order to save his wife—and himself by association—he collaborates with the Nazi agenda, reporting propaganda and playing puppet. But his collaboration comes at a price, he is unable to interact with Hana in public (and she is severely limited in both where she is able to go and what she is able to do) and is increasing asked to take one step further toward the Nazi agenda.
The beauty of the film is not in its stirring story or star performances, which are all present, but in its visual appeal. The Protektor is striking, a harkening back to film noir of the past. And its dark visuals are accompanied by its dark humor. At home next to a gallery of Coen brothers films, the movie tackles World War II fodder from an angle rarely applied—lasciviously funny.
The Protektor will be shown Tuesday, March 2 at West Newton Cinema (1296 Washington Street/Route 16, Newton). To purchase tickets or for more information, please visit www.bjff.org.