Ve stinu aka In the Shadow 2012An excellent looking production set during 1953 in Stalinist Czechoslovakia. A Detective with the Police is drawn into what seems to be a simple burglary case. The Detective, Ivan Trojan, roots around and soon comes up with a prime suspect. The man is soon under wraps at the station. Now Trojan finds that the case is anything but simple. The boys from State Security show up and put the grab on the suspect. Trojan is told that the case has already been solved and to stop investigating. Trojan however just can't play along, and soon discovers that there is a big government conspiracy at work. The Communist Czech Government is planning on currency devaluation even though they are denying this. This action will literally make the savings of Czech citizens worthless. To cover up this action, they are having a series of show trials. The Communists have set up a long con and are framing many of the remaining Jews left in the country. They tell the press that the Jews are smuggling cash and gold out of the country to send to Israel. Now Trojan happens onto the scene of a post office robbery. There are 4 dead and a large amount of cash is gone. Again, the State Security bunch arrive on site, without even being called. They chase Trojan away and again tell him it is a State matter. Trojan has managed to retrieve a shell casing and a spent bullet from the scene. He tells the Security men nothing about this. Trojan has the bullet tested and now finds the caliber is only used by State Security agents. What is going on he wonders. Does he stop looking? Of course not, he is a cop of the old school. He had been a cop before the war, and before the Reds took over. Needless to say, as Trojan still continues to investigate, the bodies continue to pile up. He and his family are now on the receiving end of several less than subtle warnings. The wife is "mugged" and ends up in hospital. Trojan realizes that he is being followed. In the mix here is former German SS Officer, Sebastian Koch. Koch is now working for his Soviet captors on the case. He is helping set up the so called Zionist plot to smuggle currency. He is doing this because he was offered a return home to Germany. The viewer can see that the warnings etc are not going to have the desired result with Trojan. The man is bound and determined to find the real reasons for the murders, robberies and show trials. It will be the death of him.While there are a few plot holes in the story, the look and feel of the film is top-flight. The dark streets, rain, dingy settings are all put to good use by the director, David Ondrícek. The cinematography by, Adam Sikora, is simply awe inspiring. It is noir through and through. The cast is all excellent as well, with Trojan shining as the world weary type who just cannot let go. Well worth a look. The film was an entry for Oscar nods, though it was not actually nominated.

Set in the '50s in Czechoslovakia, an overweight safecracker gives himself away to a keen detective who notices sweat drops at the site of a robbery. There's also a sheath-like item left at the scene, which the police leader and his associate joke about – it's a clue, but what could it be for? Storing jewels? A knife? Measuring rice? Captain Jarda Hakl (Ivan Trojan) recognizes the accessory and visits a thug for some answers – which leads him to the location of renowned burglar Kirsch (Miroslav Krobot), whose room at the Jewish Community Centre conceals the stolen jewelry from the heist. But Hakl learns that Kirsch spent the night in the alcohol ward of a psychiatric clinic. Clearly, he's been set up – and the reasons for the trickery become more devious when German cop Major Zenke (Sebastian Koch) of State Security takes over due to political wheeling and dealing, the nearing promotion of Hakl's boss Panek (Jirí Stepnicka), and a supposed history with Jewish smugglers supporting Zionist terrorists.The case is solved in a day and the newspaper headlines make Jarda appear as a genius detective. But he knows there's more to the case, especially when his superiors and State Security want him to stop investigating. Although monetary reform plagues the Czech Republic, striking fear in the hearts of everyone, Hakl continues to go about his work diligently, with the political turmoil being forgotten in the background. It's evident that his son Tom and his wife Jitka (Sona Norisová) are merely nuisances and responsibilities that occasionally interfere with his undying mission. The next day, the post office is robbed, resulting in several deaths, including that of Vilem Foll, a killer known as "The Butcher." Hakl proceeds with the case, utilizing his various connections and resources to go behind Zenke's back. The ballistics expert, Vita Novak (Krystof Mucha), informs him that the bullets used in the post office shooting match weapons issued only to State Security, and not Janata, a notorious criminal that Zenke pins the crime to – and whose body is later discovered mutilated by a train.There's a mystery, conspiracy, and cover-up afoot, and everyone is intent on forcing Jarda out of the way. "In the Shadow" is wholeheartedly a film noir, going to great lengths to fit the part in style, cinematography, lighting, and minute details. Everyone is dressed like classic gangsters, sporting devilish black coupes, trenchcoats over suits and ties, leather gloves, and fedoras that intercept sparse illuminations of faces. The film definitely lives up to its name, casting immersive shadows on almost everything, sometimes making it difficult to decipher different characters. At one point, the electricity even goes out in Jarda's house, despite having little effect on the clarity of the scene. The ceaseless music chimes in too, as if to say calamitous events are always looming. And frequently they are, with Hakl's family being targeted for harm to persuade the captain to drop the ascertaining of clues.Everyone seems to be hiding something; and as in many thrillers involving cops, corruption of those in power is inevitable. Actions are submerged in ulterior motives and hidden intentions - even roles with nothing to conceal struggle to veil their emotions and concerns. All of the characters are also tough, bitter, or hardened like the most typical roles found in a dark film noir - riddled with antiheroes brimming with distrust and paranoia. This lends to solitary sleuthing and the realization that justice must be pursued by the unafraid or it will be manufactured by the most influential. This theme causes the resolution to be bleak, tragic, and less affecting, detracting from the initial notion of unraveling a circuitous mystery worth solving.The Massie Twins (GoneWithTheTwins.com)

This movie received many awards in the local (Czech national) competition, but in just about any category I can think of, it is one of the worst movies I have ever seen.Camera: It is called "In the shadow" and indeed, 80% of the time you are straining to see who and what are where on the set - there is no light. It is apparently intentional, but in a criminal story it just does not work. There are too many shadowy men in coats and hats; one is a 'good guy' who is killed in the end, the others are colleagues and STB (Czech KGB) agents, but half of the time you are required to guess which one is which in the scenes.The historical context and plot are just not believable. It should be 1953 in Czechoslovakia, 5 years after the Communist coup and 2 years after the biggest show-trial (see Slánský_trial on wikipedia). Everybody knew in 1953 that the legal system was just being used to murder whomever STB/KGB wanted to murder. This was not really hidden, because the show trials were intended to intimidate the population. All the complex shenanigans in film make no sense. They did not need fake testimony etc., etc. The call mentioned in the other review was not to stop the exchange (and the border with West Germany did not look like that). In short, if you really know your history, the movie just does not ring true; it's contrived.

If a movie starts off with a burglary in the middle of a rainy night, it must be film noir. So it is with Ve Stínu (In the Shadow), the Czech Republic's entry for Hollywood's 2012 foreign language Oscar. It's the story of an honest cop fighting the system, only instead of being tossed into the meat grinder of Stalinist Czechoslovakia, he willingly walks into it. The year is 1953 and there are rumors about a currency devaluation, which the government denies. Of course, the film ends with the devaluation and disillusioned people tossing their worthless money out the windows. But before we get there, Captain Hakl has a huge problem. His investigation of the burglary turns up a conspiracy by the police, state security and the Soviet Union to discredit what Jews are left in the country after the Holocaust. Adding insult to injury, the case is taken over by a captive ex-SS officer named Zenke with orders to stand before a show trial and declare that the Jews are engaged in supporting "Zionist terrorism". For that, he can go home. Otherwise, it's back to Siberia, never to see his family again. Hakl, who neglects his own family as the case progresses, preys on Zenke's conscience. What, six million weren't enough? In the end, Zenke does what he's told and is allowed to go home with evidence that Hakl secretly gave him proving the innocence of the Jews. (The phone call to stop him comes just seconds after he crosses the border. Who would've guessed it?) All that's left is to take the good captain to the basement and beat him to a bloody pulp before dispatching him. The last scene shows his young son, fresh from dad's funeral, threatening two bullies in the street. The face that stares into the camera reassures the viewer that, yes, the fight for truth and justice will go on.It's easy to see why this film was entered for Oscar consideration. The name of Václav Havel, so beloved in America for his dissident activities, will surely be evoked when discussing the merits of the film. The true shadow of director David Ondříček and writer Marek Epstein's story involves Stalin's purge of the Jews after World War II. Czechoslovak president Klement Gottwald, always eager to demonstrate his loyalty, followed suit by staging his own show trial for Jewish members of his government, with his good friend and party chief Rudolf Slánský the first to hang. None of this is ever revealed. We learn of Zenke's SS past only through a chance glimpse, and the show trial and Soviet role in the affair are strictly cameo. Highlighting the currency devaluation instead may seem laughable, but it's meant to show the government lying to the people the whole time. The point is to follow the captain from the scene of a petty crime to the criminal policy of the Politburo. Unfortunately, there's very little gripping suspense along the way and the forensics basically comes down to, "Do me a favor, will you?" The lack of any real plot gave actor Ivan Trojan more room to showcase his talents. In Medvídek (2007) he got to show off his Italian, here it's German. His Hakl has the trench coat, mannerisms and hunches of a world-weary detective, who sees clues not obvious to others. But as for clues to what motivates him, there are none. Some personal history with the Jews? Feeling betrayed by the system he works for? Just tired of everything? He knows nothing will change if he exposes the plot, he knows it will cost him his life. But there he is, smugly telling his boss, security henchman and Soviet minder about the evidence, before following the henchman to the meat grinder. Perhaps he feels he failed as a family man, perhaps he wants to show his superiors he's smarter than them, perhaps he simply loves truth above all else. The only certain clue is that this movie aspires for an Oscar and Hollywood typically demands a good bloodletting for films that deal with the painful past.