A Czech journalist joins a Prague radio station what broadcasts Nazi propaganda in order to protect his Jewish wife. However, as the Nazi rule over Czechoslovakia calls for more and more collaboration, his relationship with his wife spirals downward.
Najbrt gets the look and feel of noir fatalism down, but storytelling that alternates between roughshod and lethargic means the film doesn't hold together as much more than pretty fragments.
– Michelle Orange,
Village Voice,
2 Aug 2011
rotten:
Protektor is simply another in a long line of diluted stories about life during wartime, one whose diminished returns only further trivialize a legacy of real-life horror.
– David Fear,
Time Out New York,
3 Aug 2011
rotten:
Dipping in and out of luminous black and white, "Protektor" has a distancing glamour that prevents the story from digging in.
– Jeannette Catsoulis,
New York Times,
4 Aug 2011
fresh:
Though it remains a little too enigmatic, Marek Najbrt's Holocaust drama is atmospheric enough to keep us edgy on its heroine's behalf.