Ever had a bad day? This guy's anniversary gift is eternal mall purgatory. Czechoslovakia's weirdest shopping trip.
Michail Forman, a successful business manager, gets stuck in a traffic jam. The weather is lousy, his car breaks down and he forgot to buy a present for his 5th wedding anniversary. He jumps out of his car and finds some shelter in the entrance of a shopping mall. Attracted by a little girl he enters the mall, but once he's in, time and reality are no longer something to rely on.
Direction
Herz's claustrophobic framing turns commerce into cosmic horror
Production
The mall itself becomes a character—fluorescent, endless, hostile
Acting
Borkowski's escalating panic never tips into parody
Director
Juraj Herz
Jacek Borkowski
Michal Forman
Małgorzata Kożuchowska
Betty
Zora Jandová
Klára
Andrej Hryc
Café Manager
Josef Vinklář
Kryštof
Tomáš Töpfer
Uxa
Zdeněk Maryška
Lukášek
Nadine Spinoza
Waitress
Martin Štěpánek
Head Porter
Stanislav Zindulka
Old Man with Tickets
Květa Fialová
Old Lady
Vladimír Kratina
Man in Leather Coat
Miroslav Moravec
Bank Director
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Herz shot in an actual Prague mall during off-hours; some 'extras' were real overnight security who thought the crew was a dream.
Adapts Josef Nesvadba's 1960s short story, written when Czechoslovakia's first department stores symbolized both communist progress and alienating modernity.
CZ
