“𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰? 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, ‘𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘔𝘳. 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘬. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵.’ 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭!”

Social constructs exist only to divide, removing humanity layer by layer until we don’t recognize the people and things we love right in front of our eyes. That might be what THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940), Ernst Lubitsch’s early rom-com, is saying with its depiction of working-class Hungarians.

Stretching one instance of dramatic irony into 100 minutes, the film focuses on the motivations and bonds between the salespeople at a local department store – some gaming for status, some for excitement, and some even for love.

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Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.