The Fifth Horseman is Fear
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| Directed by | Zbyněk Brynych |
| Written by | Hana Bělohradská |
| Starring | Miroslav Macháček |
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100 minutes |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
The Fifth Horseman Is Fear (Czech: A pátý jezdec je strach) is a 1964 Czechoslovak New Wave film about the Holocaust that was directed by Zbyněk Brynych. Instead of depicting gas chambers and concentration camps, the film examines the subtler but equally debilitating mental effects of oppression. Restricted by Stalinist censorship, Brynych's uses Nazi fascism as a metaphor to speak out against Soviet communism, highlighting the evils of both oppressive regimes. When it was released in America in 1968, the film was highly praised by critics. Time magazine said it was a “superlatively photographed film," and Roger Ebert wrote, “A nearly perfect film...beautiful, distinguished work. I imagine it will win the Academy Award for the best foreign film.”
Set in Prague during the Nazi occupation, the film follows Dr. Braun, a Jewish doctor forbidden to practice medicine who instead works for Nazi officials cataloging confiscated Jewish property. All Braun wants to do is survive, but his pragmatic mentality is challenged when an injured resistance fighter stumbles into his apartment building. A quest for morphine leads Dr. Braun through his tortured city, where fear eats away at the social structure.
Superficially, the city might appear to be normal, but hallucinations, awkward outbursts, and nervous, self-conscious behavior make it clear that society is falling apart. Although images of the Holocaust are never seen, its devastation is understood through an overarching sense of destitution and fear. As Dr. Braun travels through the seedy undergrounds of Prague and back up to his apartment building—where a long winding staircase connects the lives of all his eccentric neighbors—a wide variety of personalities are introduced to the screen, each of whom appears equally as tortured.
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