Review 2009-01-26T16:55:49-08:00 28 A review of the film, The Fifth Horseman is Fear Czechoslovak, Czech, new, wave, Firth, Horseman, Fear, Zbynek, Brynych, film, movie, dvd, review 2009-01-27T00:00:00-08:00 One indirect offshoot of American Film Noir is the Czech New Wave of the early 1960s. The brave directors during this period created dark films that were a reaction to repression by the state. Rather than risking direct criticism, the filmmakers presented their views with allegory and metaphor. The movement quickly ended with the Soviet invasion in the summer of 1968. These are not detective stories and who-done-its, but bleak explorations into human reactions within damaged societies. Think [i]Lost Weekend[/i], rather than [i]Maltese Falcon[/i]. In [i]The Fifth Horseman Is Fear[/i], director Zbynek Brynych follows the story of a Jewish doctor in Prague during the Holocaust. No longer allowed to practice medicine, Dr. Braun survives as a warehouse man, cataloging confiscated Jewish property for the Germans. Brynych's link between Nazi authoritarianism and Communist authoritarianism is impossible to miss. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Horseman_is_Fear][img size=157x220]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/HORSMAN_FILM_COVER.jpg[/img][/url][capt]The Fifth Horseman is Fear[/capt] This film doesn't present the straight narrative of commercial American cinema; rather, it weaves its sparse story with jarring images, and occasional disjoint, oddly paced edits. However, once drawn into the film, this strange, haunting world feels all too real. Dr. Braun lives in a Prague apartment at the top of a broad, circular stair case among an odd and varied set of tenants: the wealthy couple who cheat on one another; the young boy they ignore; the angry, snooping piano teacher; a poor, mad woman who keeps rabbits; a selfish, lower class couple with a constantly crying baby; and a rat-like informant for the state. The residents are inundated by state posters, literature and radio announcements prodding them to report on suspect activities. The plot is put into motion by the arrival of an activist who has been shot and needs medical attention. Dr. Braun is summoned, refuses to operate, but eventually relents and removes the bullet. Realizing that the man will scream in pain when he awakens, the doctor goes out after curfew, seeking morphine. The doctor's quest leads the viewer through the madhouse that the city has become. We visit a brothel, the Desperation Club, and the Jewish asylum. The club is especially haunting as "normal" people drink themselves into oblivion, perform trance-like dances, and sing and stop in a unison of fear. Upon return to his apartment, the doctor struggles to keep the authorities from uncovering his patient. The stress causes his neighbors to surrender to selfish desperation. Roger Ebert called the movie, "A nearly perfect film...beautiful, distinguished work." I take the opposite view. The film has many jarring imperfections, and it is not afraid to show ugliness. For instance, the music in the Desperation Club is discordant and at odds with the sound and style of music that would have actually been playing. The dancers and music are not quite in sync. However, it is this off-kilter style and stark presentation that digs beneath our conscious mind and into the world of dreams - and nightmares. If [i]film noir[/i] means "black movie", then [i]The Fifth Horseman is Fear[/i] is darker still. I give it eight of ten stars as a film. As a nightmare, it gets ten. 2009-01-26T17:01:24-08:00 1