Fifty-one years after its premiere, the Oscar-winning The Shop on Main Street shone on the screen as if completely new. The world premiere of the digitally restored drama set in the World War II fascist Slovak state was presented by a numerous delegation led by Elmar Klos, the son of one of the two directors Kadár and Klos.
“I am glad that the film has been so masterly digitized and brought to life again. This work is still up-to-date, especially for the young who do not remember much and can be easily manipulated,” said the descendant of Elmar Klos, referring to the rising popularity of the extreme right in Slovakia. Then he added two stories that happened during the shooting, about a lost dog and a cameraman whose boastful bike riding ended by a brain concussion and a break in shooting. Elmar Klos also revealed that it was in Karlovy Vary where he met his future wife. “This month we will celebrate a golden wedding anniversary,” he told the audience with pride.
Cameraman Ivan Šlapeta who was invited to the work’s restoration as an expert supervisor, gracefully complained about some of the digitized works he had not been invited to as a filmmaker. Zuzana Kronerová, the daughter of the main male character Jozef Kroner, stressed that the sound of the new copy of the The Shop on Main Street is better than the original and invited film clubs to show the first Oscar-winning Czechoslovak film abundantly.
More information about the film.
