Fifth Horseman Is Fear, The ( 1964 )

The Masterpiece Collection

An aging Jewish doctor is forbidden to practice medicine in Prague during the Nazi occupation. He is employed in a warehouse as a clerk, cataloguing confiscated Jewish property. When a partisan is wounded, the doctor reluctantly agrees to treat him. The doctor hides him in his run-down apartment building as he sneaks through the black market underworld of Prague in search of morphine to ease the man´s pain, ever fearful of informant neighbors and vigilant authorities.

Within an historical context, director Zbynek Brynych creates a thinly-disguised allegory about contemporary communist Czechoslovakia that is rich in atmosphere and dark in tone. The expressionist cinematography and stellar performances make this lost masterwork an unforgettable viewing experience.

Upplagd i sortimentet: 8 Oktober, 2006