This movie is a whole damn package...!
There are three women in the life of a clerk Alfred Kralik - a woman he exchanges letters with and Klara Novak, his coworker. While writing the unknown woman about how important of a person he is, he spends his working days arguing with Klara, who knows exactly what he is.
Who is the third woman? The wife of Kralik's boss, Mrs. Matuschek. Why is she important? Well, she is the reason why Kralik gets fired from the Matuschek company.
These three women really do make Kralik turn!
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
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We have Mr. Vadas (a see-it-all character that no one likes much), nice yet silly Pirovitch, funny errand boy Pepi, the boss Matuschek and of course...
The story begins with Kralik meeting Novak, that wants to work for their company. The two of them do not get along at all, barking at each other and seemingly disliking each other.
But this fun little play between them is the least of Kralik's worries... as his boss suddenly starts acting cold toward himself.
And when the two argue, Kralik ends up loosing his job.
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[Customers can be SO dumb.]
Unhappy, he refuses to meet his "letter girlfriend", and asks Pirovitch to give her a message why he could not come.
The man spoils all the fun though, telling Kralik that the mysterious woman looks a bit too much like Klara...
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[Felix Bressart is a national treasure.]
Now, Kralik knows, but Novak doesn't. He goes in, teases the woman but she refused to even entertain the thought that her anonymous lover boy will not come and she should spend the evening with Alfred.
Kralik leaves and Novak is all alone, falling ill from disappointment.
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[This hurt like bitch.]
And so Kralik cannot face his feelings or Klara, as he finds out why he was fired.
Hearing that poor Mr. Matuschek tried to take his own life, he learns that his boss suspected Kralik of being her wife's lover.
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[That smug bastard! xD]
Not even after that event can Alfred breath calmly.
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╭────────── · 𓆩🌻𓆪 · ─╮
╰─ · 𓆩🌻𓆪 · ──────────╯
This story was incredible. It had AMAZING comedy, it had great drama, incredibly smooth slice-of-life feeling and a romance that was a bit off, but still worked out well.
The atmosphere this movie created caught him in the first moments and made me scream at the notebook happily when we got the happy ending.
It was everything I didn't know I needed, and even more than I hoped this movie would have.
What makes me... weirdly happy is that this is a movie adapted from a Hungarian novel - Hungary is a neighbouring country AND the names Novak and Kralik are all around me. That was fun!
But back to the movie.
I especially enjoy the "SIX PEOPLE" speech, Mr. Matuschek gave at around 32:24 minute mark. It was so brilliant with the way he switched between polite anger and his customer service voice!
I would not say that the movie was predictable, not at all. I would say that this movie is giving you a lot of clues to figure out some things yourself. I called the lover the moment it became obvious, and what do you know - I was right. And very pleased with it.
Two more things I want to add:
1. The scene when Mr. Matuschek asked everyone how they're spending their Christmas was very touching and even though I was not a fan of him spending the holidays with the 17 year old boy Rudy, it was nice that they found each other.
2. I felt like the romance was dangerously dragging. At few points I wished Kralik would come out with the truth, but he decided to drag it and drag it.. I think it could work just as well if he did it differently and didn't have to tell Klara all those lies.
⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
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