...and the Fifth Horseman Is Fear

...a pátý jezdec je Strach

Czechoslovakia

1964

100 Min

Black and White

Czech

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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SCR Hana Bělohradská, Zbyněk Brynych

CAST Miroslav Machácek, Ilja Prachař, Jirí Adamíra, Olga Scheinpflugová, Josef Vinklár

ED Miroslav Hájek, Vilma Binterová

Dr. Braun is forbidden to practice medicine because he’s a Jew living in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia. He’s old, seems resigned about the fate of the Jews, and even works in the Department of Confiscation of Jewish Property. One day a neighbor asks him to assist a wounded political fugitive. Dr. Braun reluctantly operates to remove the bullet, but warns that plenty of morphine will soon be needed in order to keep the man from screaming when he awakes, which would attract unwanted attention. After some soul searching, Dr. Braun decides to redeem himself and reclaim his identify as a person and doctor by continuing to provide assistance. His search for the scarce morphine takes him on a nightmarish journey which includes a brothel where local women are forced to be prostitutes for German soldiers, a bar where the locals try to drown their misery in booze and dancing, and a Jewish insane asylum with a high suicide rate. Meanwhile, in a world where there is constant propaganda instructing people to report any suspicious or disloyal activities, it may only be a matter of time before someone in Dr. Braun’s apartment building call in the state police. —IMDb

Director

Zbyněk Brynych

Czech director Zbynek Brynych specialized in films dealing with life under fascist rule and how people relate to each other and their environment. A former musician, Brynych began his film career in the mid-’40s as a production manager. In 1949, he joined the Barrandov Film Studio and worked as an assistant director. Between 1951 and 1953, Brynych worked with the Czechoslovak Army Film Unit. He became a second unit director in 1955, and three years later released his directorial debut, Zizkovska Romance/A Local Romance. As with most of his subsequent films, Brynych co-wrote the screenplay. Brynych occasionally worked on productions outside of Czechoslovakia. —Sandra Brennan, Rovi