Diamonds of the Night (1964)

Two Jewish boys escape from a train transporting them from one concentration camp to another. The film goes beyond the themes of war and anti-Nazism and concerns itself with man's struggle to preserve human dignity.

Director:

Jan Nemec

Writers:

Arnost Lustig (story "Darkness has no Shadows"), Jan Nemec

Stars:

Ladislav Jánsky, Antonín Kumbera, Ilse Bischofova

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ladislav Jánsky	...	1st Boy
Antonín Kumbera	...	2nd Boy
Ilse Bischofova	...	The Woman (as Irma Bischofova)
Ivan Asic
Jan Riha
August Bischof
Josef Koggel
Oscar Müller	...	(as Oskar Müller)
Anton Schich
Rudolf Stolle
Josef Koblizek
Josef Kubat
Rudolf Lukásek
Bohumil Moudry
Karel Navratil

Storyline

WWII. Together, two young men - boys, really - with only the clothes on their backs, are running toward the forest, shedding their coats identifying them as being housed at a concentration camp, while they can hear the gunfire targeted at them. As they try to elude capture which in general means their first priority being to remain hidden from anyone else, they have to deal with the necessities of life, one who tends to focus on his hunger, while the other his physical pain in wearing ill-fitting shoes, which by chance he got by earlier trading the other for food just before their escape. The one focused on his hunger is prone to delusion about what he feels he needs to do to survive regardless of if he goes through with those thoughts, and about life still in his concentration camp identified coat but out and about in general society.

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Plot Keywords:

escape | hunger | beer drinking | running | tram | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

First feature film for director Jan Nemec.

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Connections

Referenced in The Painted Bird (2019)

User Reviews

Blew me away.

This is an incredible film. Before viewing it I was told it wasn't available in the states, and what a shame. It's stark visuals and haunting imagery kept me on the edge of my seat. I wouldn't care if I got a version w/o subtitles because their are maybe 10 spoken lines, and time is played with as the viewer follows flash backs forwards and dream sequences. This is the best war movie I have ever seen. The beginning scene running up the hill is bone chilling.

If at all possible watch this movie.

Details

Country:

Czechoslovakia

Language:

Czech German

Release Date:

14 March 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Diamonds of the Night

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ceskoslovenský Filmexport

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1