Set and partially filmed in the Slovakian city that shares its name, “Bardejov” is yet another fascinating movie about a mostly unknown story of bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of oppressive World War II fascism.
Based on a story by producer Emil A. Fish (who provides infrequent narration) and written by Shmuel Lynn, “Bardejov” focuses on events taking place in 1942, when Mr. Fish was a mere 7-year-old boy. This is when the Hlinka Guard (an offshoot of the Slovakian army) and the local police (acting as proxies for Nazi Germany) forced all of the town’s residents to “register.” As the population was all Jewish and the country was surrounded by the Nazis in all directions, little is left to the imagination regarding the reason for registration.
In an effort to quell and calm down his increasingly concerned neighbors, vintner and local head of the Jewish council Rafuel “Rafi” Lowy (Robert Davi) assures everyone that they have nothing to worry about, which at first seems to be the case. “Inventorying” the Bardejov residents (and another 20,000 Slovakian Jews) in itself is innocuous, yet as we are to discover in short order, that is not what lies ahead.
In Good Company
Mirroring “Schindler’s List” (1993), “Defiance” (2008), “Son of Saul” (2015), and the documentary “Syndrome K” (2021), “Bardejov” demonstrates what can be achieved when ordinary people are painted into a corner by evil forces.As is often the case with people ill-equipped to handle sudden gifts of power, the band of Hlinka Guard soldiers charged to oversee and ultimately wrangle the Bardejov citizens are openly hostile, yet aggressively inept. The “leader” of these goons is Stefan Reisteiter (Dean Miroshnikov), a blonde, blue-eyed, prototypical Aryan poster child far too fond of drink and brandishing his Luger Walther P38 pistol.
An Iron Fist
Icy, exacting, and not one to suffer fools gladly, Kovach wields an iron fist and lets Lowy know in no uncertain terms that any further insubordination will not be tolerated. In tandem with his right-hand man Dr. Atlas (director Danny A. Abeckaser), Lowy must come up with a way to prevent Kovach from moving forward without risking lives in the process. What is finally decided is utterly ingenious, but not without considerable risk.
Mr. Davi’s rendering of an Eastern European Jew in “Bardejov” offers further testament to his considerable range and emotional depth. Lowy is a soft-spoken, pragmatic man who exceeds great warmth, empathy, and patience but can deliver rage and fury if pushed too far, something Reisteiter discovers firsthand.
Stirring Epilogue
Lending the production even more gravitas is the professional courtesy of Mr. Fish, who appears in both the opening and closing scenes revisiting Bardejov in the modern day. Mr. Fish has an ongoing mission of keeping the memory of his fallen and surviving countrymen alive, and his humanitarian accomplishments in this century are bittersweet and nothing less than awe-inspiring.
