Povorka neizlečivih zatočenika

Wang Bing (1967) kineski autor dokumentarnih filmova (West of Tracks, Three Sisters, Father and Sons) u filmu ‘TILL MADNESS DO US PART (premijerno prikazanom u Veneciji 2013) kružio je nekoliko meseci kamerom po muškom odeljenju psihijatrijske bolnice i ispričao bolnu tragediju onih koji su zabludu pretvorili u verovanje ili samo nastavili da beže, da beže, da beže dalje

Veći deo četvorosatnog dokumentarnog filma DOK NAS LUDILO NE RAZDVOJI zbiva se u svojevrsnom “kavezu” za ljude, a tek mali deo na pustim ulicama jednog velikog grada na jugozapadu najmnogoljudnije zemlje Sveta. Kamera je svedok koji među izolovanima pronalazi različite slučajeve narušenog psihičkog zdravlja ili pojedince otuđene od grupe. Ona zatim prati njihove imitacije života iza rešetaka, da bi tek u jednom izdvojenom slučaju ispratila i jednog izlečenog van ovog začaranog kruga (u kvadratnom obliku). Pomenuti delić filma na pustim ulicama, kratkotrajan je, ali iznimno bitan – jer tada bivši bolesnik koji je dobio šansu povratka besan tumara, sasvim besciljno i vrlo izgubljeno u pomrčinu, bežeći od porodice koja ga prisiljava na život po utvrđenim pravilima i ostalim društvenim normama civilizacije. On niti luta, niti beži, već samo nestaje u mraku gde nema ni kraja, ali ni novog početka. 

Budimo iskreni.

Ima jedna obmana koju sebi samima ponavljamo dok život odmiče: "Ne može se tako nešto meni desiti... Bolest? Patnja? Nemaština? Ma, ne, ne, ni nama, niti nekom koga volimo, nekom bliskom, nekom mom." Ali, i to se dogodi, sav se potok oko nas zamuti, a teče dalje, i ti stojiš i shvataš novog sebe i svoju zabludu koju vir vremena odnosi. Budeš nemoćan, pa se trgneš i gaziš onu mutnu vodu u vrtlogu, grabiš dalje i tražiš, jer nisi suhi list što je na vodu pao. Ne, ne, ti si čovek, istina, otac i mati te stvorili, istina, pa zablude su tvoje trajanje, istina, a između istine rođenja i istine umiranja, između neba i zemlje, tebe i njih - stoji istina, prosta i čista, kao dete što ćeš roditi, roditelja koje ćeš pokopati, i pamtiti.

Takvu istinu sluti i pisac Moreli iz Kortasarovih „Školica“ pa u bolesničkoj postelji zapisuje - „tek bol je ono što dušu od tela odvaja“. I zaista, tako jednostavna istina - pred bolom se duša sasvim sklanja i pokorava slutnjama, pa telo kroz patnju samo stiže u stvarnost, u maglu što guši disanje ili na proplanak mirisnog proleća gde srce uznemireno lupa, zenice se šire, a krv uzavrela tuče u čelo. I tad se bolesnik nada ozdravljenju i povratku domu svom, svojoj uhodanoj stvarnosti, svom životu kojeg postaje svesniji nego ikad i koji mu iz bolnice izgledaše lagodniji i lepši. Ali i tad se, siromašak, nađe pred novom zabludom.

Vratimo se, dakle – zabludama. Zato što zabluda nije laž, zabluda je ono što imamo makar nas gušila ili snažila, zapravo ono što pomaže da dušu svoju razaznamo i prepoznamo, sačuvamo je od tela koje neizbežno stari, propada i istrune. 

Uostalom – „najlepše pevaju zablude“ (Miljković)!

Junaci Wang Bingovog filma ponavljaju ujednačeno telesno postojanje, svodeći ga na jedan isti lavor za pišanje i pranje, na jednu istu postelju za dan i noć, na jedan isti polazak, isti dolazak, na prokleto isti krug od svitanja do sumraka u šugavom kružnom hodniku oivičenom visokom gvozdenom ogradom i zarđalom žicom. Provode vreme u društvu sebi sličnih, umobolnih šetača od severa ka jugu, pa sa zapada, prema istoku, potom od juga gore ka severu, pa s istoka na zapad, tada okrenu dole na jug, zastajkujući tek na čas da isprate patnju nekog drugog sapatnika, urlikom kao smehom u mukli sumrak, pa dalje na jug ili sever, nije ni važno, tumaraju musavi i pogureni jedinom stazom kraj masnih zidova sve do zadimljenog televizijskog salona. A tamo šarena slika treperi sa zida i umiveni kineski pevači piskutavih glasova ljuljaju melodiju veselja ili sete starog kraja koji su svi napustili, hrleći u zabludi za boljim životom, o kom uporno maštaju, i da ga dostignu ili mu se vrate, jednom, kad ludilo nestane, što jasno je – nikad biti neće, neće, ne, ne.

U ovom filmu bolesnicima je narušeno mentalno zdravlje, a izlaz u zaboravu traže i pod pokrivačem smrdljive postelje, gde zajedno sa drugim bolesnikom, obnaženi stiskaju tela u zagrljaje - ali kamera tamo ne zalazi, tamo je tajno mesto gde toplom i lepljivom spermom među prstima ili po trulim zubima, možda, ovi jurodivi smiruju svoje požude, svoje bolne nagone, šta god, neku muku ljudsku sputaju lažnim zaboravom – ali i to je pretpostavka iz publike, jer tamo je zagušljiv mrak sklonjen od objektiva, tamo je granica ludila kojoj Wang Bing oprezno prilazi, ali joj se ne približava suviše. To je mesto gde svako razaznaje koliko se upustio ili spustio u ovu povorku neizlečivih, u zagrljaj bliskih i srodnih paćenika, gde strast preživljava i menja oblike da bi trajala. Još!

Nego, da vas pitam - kako ste? Nabrekli vam hemoroidi po guzicama u kožnim foteljama, pa bole do suza? Stiskate slepoočnice vrhovima prstiju nad užarenim ekranima koji vam otimaju i pogled i svaku misao, pa gutate stresove i cigarete svakodnevno i sve većom kašikom, čašom? Sve većim dahom udišete otrove? I tako dugim skokovima stižete do „izbezumljenosti“, do nečeg što smatrate ludilom, a to je, ipak, samo telesno sažimanje sa stvarnošću. Izobilje deterdženata i sapuna, izvitoperena kompozicija zvukova i slika, razlivena i poprskana s kraja na kraj planete, mrljavog jorgana kom su se prekrile budale, to je ishlapela nervoza zbog zgužvanog tiketa sportske prognoze, nekakva budalaština koja svake večeri poždere tvoj dan, dan po dan, i u krug, u krug. 

I grabiš, negde gde će ti biti bolje nego sirotinji koja rida nad svojom mrtvom decom i spaljenim kućama, grabiš da pobegneš od beskućnika koji iskašljava krv po trotoaru, od prosjaka i ludaka, da bežiš od neizlečivih na drugu stranu ulice, a sve u krug, u krug, dok se sa samim sobom sudaraš i dok te ludilo ne rastavi od svih, pa ostaneš sam, u kvadratu od četiri zida. Sever. Zapad. Lampa. Sindrom. Gaće. Šlajm. Miliprot. Ekscem. Muva. Zid. Krv. Mama.

Petar Protić, mart 2015.

A boy, a cat, summer music and cigarettes from the kiosk in Felini’s Amarcord

The new waves of American independent film are ridden by the disciples of Cassavetes, David Lynch, Jarmusch, Linklater, who, albeit a little late, define their (our) generation from the end of the XX century. They know the core of genres, which is why they play two genres in one film, yes, two genres, like two guns, are taken out by a dreamer from Hammer to Nail in a melodrama+comedy Ping Pong Summer. Onur Turkel wrote, directed and played the immature, rugged and bitterly skeptical Turk from Brooklyn in the one-man comedy with a vampire finale and soft-pornographic background which is SUMMER OF BLOOD. 

A similar (independent) budget surrounding is where Denis Côté  from Montreal dwells, a passionate filmmaker who followed his Golden Bear for direction in 2003 for suspence+drama VIC+FLO SAW A BEAR with a return to Berlinare this year with a documentary about a loud and clear roar of a man stuck in flywheels of ruthless capitalism. In this way Côté expresses his understanding of the modern times, not just through a story of two felon lesbian, but also through the voice of a man who finds it harder and harder to see joy in his work. Look, a cat! Off! So, when this third of planetary selection (360 degrees) from American continent is enriched with the memory of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s childhood, spent in a Chilean village with a Stalinist father and a mother with an uncanny resemblance of Felini’s tobacco woman in Amarcord, then we realize that it is the story, the narration, complex and unpredictable, where all the flavor and the essence of independent filmmaking lies, whether old or new. Therefore Jodorowsky’s DANCE OF REALITY is one more chosen story in the ocean of the untold ones, and Alejandro is yet another never-grown boy. And again this cat. She will knock something down! and another boy stands with his little friend on a balcony in Caracas , talking about junior prom, while he secretly thinks about his mother, single, unemployed and sad in the Venezuela film Pelo Malo (BAD HAIR). This film is not only independent and freely-made, but also mostly created by women (production, screenplay, direction), and women are the most capable of being independent creatures in the world, at least they say s… Off! This cat is getting boring. Off!

I don’t know where I was, it’s the cat. Oh, well, let’s do it this way:

STRANGE LITTLE CAT, a debut film by Ramon Zürcher is one that encourages (above all youthful and full of ideas) us to be independent and free in everything. Just like… OFF… yes, just like a cute little kitten. Now go away. Yes. The best film in the selection is… a film that is called cat, but is not about cats, but about us, inactive, nervous and rushed cats’ pet. Yes yes, about us, who need nothing except SEX, DRUGS, AND TAXATION! We don’t need to eat, or breathe, we only care about sex, drugs and bills. We don’t need more. Not even a mat, mat (not a cat). But if you take a close look at a film of this title, Sex, Drugs & Taxation, made in abundance of detail and with different stories poured into one about two great friends, very close but very different, then you will come to the conclusion that the young Danish director Christoffer Boe, just like Ramon Zürcher, is the new hope of European drama, and thus film, independent of course, and quite Chekhovian. Translated into film language, Checkovian would be – Fassbinderovian!

The only documentary in this year’s 360 degrees selection is ALBHABET by Austian documentary filmmaker and explorer Erwin Wagenhofer, about how many talented children suffer in inactive educational systems, everywhere in the world, and is another necessary dilemma we need to deal with, if we want more freedom and independent spirit to grow in our children that it ever grew in us.

However, not it’s time for me to wrap up this story into a conclusion which would be dry, but magnificent – everyone will make films. Everyone!

Anyone who can persuade  Michel Houellebecq, the most sold French writer to be kidnapped and have a good time at it – FILM IT; anyone who can imitate a little kitten and has a new idea – FILM IT; anyone who knows more than twenty people who will immediately come when they call them – FILM IT; anyone who likes pictures flying under their nose, constantly in a rhythm – FILM IT; tireless, curious, agile – FILM IT, FILM IT!

(Translated by Dženana Huseinović)

Trailers' Playlist here
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1ggSuC5RTERis3GBuZDSkbWjP45JCPzZ

When you're acting life, as you're living in a movie

Film Essay on ACTRESS by Robert Greene (USA, 2014)

Two years ago, at various world documentary festivals from Sundance to CPH:DOX and ZagrebDox, "The Queen of Versailles" by Laureen Greenfield was screened. It was a documentary about a wealthy couple who in their hedonistic delight started to build a grand castle just like the royal one near Paris, at a site in Florida.

Greenfield's persistent film crew followed the pair for a whole year, documenting their rise and tumble, the complete ruin of the entire Empire, as well as the replica of Versailles, until the final scene (priceless and unforgettable) which is centered on one outraged housewife wandering through the big house full of dog's shit and the stench of leftovers.

Eventually everybody left her, servants and friends, same as they came – in a herd, hungry for prey, which wasn't even there any more.

Well, let's leave the queen of Versailles to suffer glorious days by herself and take a look at another persistent film crew of one recently-made documentary.

The crew are, again, individuals with clear sight, strong nerves, and unbreakable temperament, following some other people's story. They document (witness) facts imposed by reality, as lived by the majority of us.

This characteristic is usually used as a guarantee for success in the artistic world, in the film industry and in life as well.  But, that's not the subject here. The subject is Brandy Burre!

Have you heard of Brandy Burre? She's an actress. Actually, she was known by roles in the TV series "The Wire" and in minor episodes in Hollywood productions.  Then, she got pregnant and finished her career at HBO Television, gave birth to one child, then another, and became lonely, a bit like a desperate housewife.

But, that's not certain at all.  Is she really an actress, or is she just acting as one?  For sure – she's wandering through life, having her private life in one hand and her business life in the other. She's rumbling, tottering into drunkeness, always followed by a persistent and steady camera man, director and editor Robert Greene, just like her third kid – the quiet one, who is always there, close to mother's skirt.

But later, in the editing room, he will wisely and patiently put together the whole story about one tired woman in her late 30's who is acting in front of every camera, his and even the hidden, imagined one. Does she really act or...?

No, she doesn't. She lives her life, or? It's maybe one big melodrama of permanent falling down and arising, the short moment of happiness after a long period of fallacy. Or it's not even that, but if it's not, then what is it? Then, maybe she's an accidental passer-by at the local railway station.

Yes, that's who she is. And when you look at Brandy Burre, it's as if you are looking at a passer-by.  She's lost in her worries and thoughts and you see her staring through the window of a train wagon. You feel sorry for her, then talk to her, and get another sad story through short laughs, a few hidden tears in her beautiful eyes, as she turns to the window, to that dark mirror and the night. 

What's done is done, when all your friends leave you, there's always an accidental passer-by waiting for you to help, who knows...

A well-known film critic wrote for "Indiwire" after TRUE/FALSE (Festival in Missouri) premiere that this film is "Sunset Boulevard" of modern time, thinking about Billy Wilder's glorious 1950 film and the magnificent tragedy of the silent film diva Norma Desmond.

And he was right, because there's the fact that in the last six decades one needs less talent, as well as money, for making a film.  It's just that the sunset on the boulevard of life stays the same - sad and foggy.

So, remember, when you're stepping into the fast train that stops briefly at the station, you're carrying all that foggy sunset with you. And then you'll rush into the night together, with the passer-by, the sunset, Brandy and you, when the audience sighs quietly and the lights in the theater come on slowly.

About the author

First feature film by Robert Greene "Owning the Weather" from 2009 was presented at UN Conference. Two years later he shot "Kathi..." and later, "Fake It So Real", a documentary about a local wrestling club. This one was listed by Robert Brody from the New Yorker among the 15 best films of 2012.

His last feature film "Actress" will be premiered in Europe this autumn. Robert writes film essays about documentaries for Sight & Sound, Filmmaker Magazine, Hammer to Nail, and Nonfics. His book Present Tense will be published in 2015.

More about the film at www.actressfilm.com

TERAPIJA KVADRATNOG KRUGA

Desilo se to pre dvadeset godina u prizemlju jedne duševne bolnice sa četiri hodnika jednake dužine i širine – severnim, istočnim, južnim, zapadnim. Svi hodnici su s desne strane imali prozore na takozvano dvorište, a sa leve strane vrata, sem južnog hodnika, koji je sa obe strane imao vrata. Iz severnog hodnika se ulazilo u četiri lekarske ordinacije, ambulantu i ostavu, a iz ostalih u bolesničke sobe. Iz istočnog hodnika se ulazilo u muške, a iz zapadnog u ženske sobe, dok se iz južnog hodnika ulazilo u manje sobe namenjene lakšim bolesnicima, onima koji su imali da plate za svoju privatnost i dovođenje noćnih gostiju iz vana ili iz soba suprotnog pola, odnosno sa suprotne strane sveta. Preko puta ovih soba nalazli su se klozeti, kupatila i jedna zajednička prostorija za pacijente. Prozori soba sa istočne i zapadne strane behu prekriveni rešetkama, dok na južnoj strani uopšte nije bilo prozora ka spoljašnjem svetu. Dakle, četiri hodnika dužine po trideset metara, šest bolesničkih soba sa šest postelja na zapadnoj i istočnoj strani, a osam manjih soba na južnoj, po dva puta više prozora na onoj strani na kojoj Sunce izlazi i na kojoj zalazi. U ovaj kvadratni krug jedini ulaz, istovremeno i izlaz, čuvali su portiri, ljubitelji poslastica, gaziranih sokova i dremanja pred televizorom.

Pacijenti su bili podeljeni u tri kategorije: prva - depresivni, druga – alkoholičari i narkomani, a treća - foliranti koji su počinili neko kriminalno delo te im je bilo bolje podmititi lekare, nego stati pod okrutnu ruku zakona. Depresivni su dane provodili u zurenju, cmizdrenju i rešavanju psiholoških testova, a noći u treperavom spavanju. Alkoholičari i narkomani su nervozno cupkali i šetali dvorištem, hodnicima i sobama, dok uveče ne bi stigao prošvercovan porok od kog su se tobož lečili. Kriminalci su se samo smeškali, ćutali i čitali dnevne novine, međusobno ćaskali i gledali kroz prozore, i to kroz one ka ulici, češće nego ka dvorištu, iako i ulice behu puste, ali ne kao dvorište, u kom nije bilo ničeg sem betona i dve klupe. Štaviše, ulicom su u sumrak prolazili pogureni dobavljači rakije i heroina za drugu kategoriju, a ostajalo je novca za lekare da im produže boravak ili za čuvare da zažmure i zaćute.

Na prvom spratu, uz identičan raspored prostorija, ali drugačiju namenu, behu ozbiljniji slučajevi narušenog mentalnog zdravlja, zaključani i podeljeni u dve kategorije – jednostavni i komplikovani. Na drugom spratu beše samo jedna kategorija –otpisana i neizlečiva. U sprdnji su ovaj sprat prozvali golubarnikom. Na tavanu se čuvala arhiva, hrpa nesređenih papira, isprekidanih i nedovršenih priča, požutelih i suvih kao lišće u poznu jesen.

Jedne novembarske noći policajci su doveli promrzlu staricu koja je lutala ulicama. Nemarom i brzopleto smestiše je na zapad prizemlja, dok ne utvrde identitet ili dijagnozu. Ona je danju spavala, a noću šetala hodnicima, u krug. Jedino što je tražila behu cigareta i plamen kojim će joj užariti vrh. Dokoni alkoholičari, pijani od prokrijumčarenog pića i razulareni od besmisla svog postojanja, dadoše joj cigaretu, pa je senilna baba tumarala dalje u mrak i pred zoru zapalila postelju. Planula je cela zgrada i u trenu zažarilo i zadimilo po gornjim spratovima. Foliranti, čuvari i dežurni lekari su istrčali ispred da bespomoćni i promrzli posmatraju vatrogasce u pometnji. Dim je kuljao i gušio dok je svitalo. Bilo je nastradalih, sprženih, ugljenisanih, sa viših spratova. Iz prizemlja svi behu spašeni.

Ali, nakon dvadeset godina, obnovljena je zgrada i fotografisan defile uštogljenih lekara i predstavnika vlasti pred zdanjem za mentalno posrnule i one koji se prave da to jesu, a nisu. Bolnica ima modernu vatrogasnu zaštitu i kamere svuda, na svim stranama sveta. Broj vrata i prozora je isti kao nekad, i kategorije bolesnih, a oni iz prizemlja ni ubuduće neće biti smešteni na drugom spratu, gde im je mesto, lepši pogled sa visine. Ne, ne, tamo gde nekad beše, opet biće - golubarnik. Severni hodnik ide iz pravca zapada ka istoku, i obrnuto, zapadni od severa na jug i nazad, južni sa istoka prema zapadu i suprotno, a istočni iz pravca severa ka jugu i, naravno, s juga ka severu. „Grozota blesava.“ – viknuće jedan mladić raščupane sede kose s prozora, ali će se uvažene zvanice praviti da ga ne čuju, a nakon drugog urlika namrgođeni medincinski radnik zatvoriće prozor pred njim. Odjekivaće još neko vreme krik sobom i dalje istočnim hodnikom od severa ka jugu i s juga ka severu, pa utihnuti.

23. novembra 2010.

The Second Meeting, or The Bright Side of FAMILY Life

Dokumentarni film scenariste i reditelja Željka Mirkovića u produkciji Optimistic Filma, 2012. sniman je pet godina, pa su se zato strpljenje i poverenje u ideju nametnuli kao njegova uverljiva vrednost. Prosto zato što ovaj film uporno ostaje blizak životu, životnim emocijama i najviše životnim pobedama.

Uzorni porodični ljudi: Dejl Zelko, Željko Mirković i Zoltan Dani (s leva na desno)

Složena priča o rađanju prijateljstva između američkog pilota Dejla Zelka i oficira srpske vojske Zoltana Danija 12 godina nakon prolećne noći u kojoj je raketa sa srpske zemlje oborila američki avion na nebu koje beše i ostade svačije. Priča o tome kako je lepše igrati košarku i bejzbol, jesti kolače, svirati i pevati, nego psovati, besneti i od besa pucati.

Nisam ja od juče da se ne sećam kako je većini srpskih rezervista i "ratnika" tokom čitave proklete dekade 90-ih oružani pohod bio izgovor za pijančenje, bahaćenje, raspamećivanje i lupeženje, pa da pirim u tu vatru ognjenog šovinizma u Srbiji u kojoj je DANAS tek 10 posto stanovništva mlađe od 18 godina. Ja SADA više volim da ostanem u hrabroj srpskoj manjini koja se tog petparačkog pozorišta gnuša, s gađenjem ga prevazilazi i vešto mu beži, samo dalje od tog ja pa ja, i opet ja patriotizma. U Americi još nisam bio, ali ću otići, jednom, jer tamo imam puno prijatelja... SADA i da hoću, ja nemam vremena da verujem u bolje juče  kad ne znam šta će SUTRA moja deca obući, užinati, šta će prespavati, u šta se probuditi, o čemu se raspitivati i šta će studirati. A deca ko deca, uvek igri i zabavi okrenuta, bezbrižno sebi posvećena i nadasve nedužna na prirodnom putu...

Upravo prirodnim putem, bez mnogo intervencija, samo sa stalnom podrškom, kao teturavo detence kad prohoda stvoren je i ovaj film. Ideja je rođena i spuštena u svet emocija, između jakih sećanja i nadolazećih uzbuđenja. I tako je klizila drumovima, njivama, plavim nebom, sve do čoveka, i do žene, oca i matere. Vijugala, a zapravo se vraćala, na početak. kom je stalno težila, kao umoran čovek što se s posla kući svojoj vraća. Kada je stasala i ostvarila se u priču, vrlo filmsku i vrlo stvarnu, postalo je jasno da će trajati i posle odjavne špice... baš kao uspomena. 

Jer uspomena nije traganje, ona je pronađeno i ostvareno, spomenik vlastitom životnom putu, zvezda vodilja, usamljeno drvo u ravnici, slast pite od jabuka, ili toplina pod ćebetom koje nas sve pokriva i pod kojim za svakog ima mesta, pod pokrivačem punom zvezda!

BTW. Nedavno sam gledao dokumentarac "The Queen of Versailles" koji je scenaristkinja i rediteljka Lauren Greenfield snimala nekoliko godina. To je priča koja počinje usponom, a nastavlja se sunovratom vrlo bogatog poslovnog čoveka koji je prodavao time-share apartmane širom Amerike, leteo svojim privatnim avionima, zidao najviše tornjeve u Las Vegasu, a nakon berzanske katastrofe u jesen 2008. bio primoran da prekine bajkoviti život i sebe i svoju veliku porodicu, sa sve belim kučićima, sunovrati u stvarnost. Tako je to, nikad ne znaš šta te čeka u životu, a ako si pred kamerama, onda si sigurniji - čeka te ili nešto vrlo dobro, ili nešto vrlo loše, pa ti biraj.

MORE ABOUT "The Second Meeting" you can find here: http://www.optimisticfilm.com/second-meeting.html

Realism in Modern Cinema of the Eastern Europe

"Let's go to bed, before you say something REAL.
Let’s go to bed, before you say how you FEEL..."

Influence of the Italian neorealism.
The DEFEATED Realism established by Zhdanov.
New tendencies in Czechoslovakia and Poland. ie. Wajda, Polanski, Passer, Forman.
Cinema Verité in Hungary, ie. Mészáros Márta.
New Film in Yugoslavia.
Raw realism of Krzysztof Kieślowski.

UMBETO D.
Vittorio De Sica’s neorealist masterpiece follows Umberto D., an elderly pensioner, as he struggles to make ends meet during Italy’s postwar economic boom. Alone except for his dog, Flike, Umberto strives to maintain his dignity while trying to survive in a city where traditional human kindness seems to have lost out to the forces of modernization.

THE CRANES ARE FLYING
Veronica and Boris are blissfully in love, until the eruption of World War II tears them apart. Boris is sent to the front lines…and then communication stops. Meanwhile, Veronica tries to ward off spiritual numbness while Boris’s draft-dodging cousin makes increasingly forceful overtures. The Cranes Are Flying is a superbly crafted drama, bolstered by stunning cinematography and impassioned performances.

ASHES AND DIAMOND
On the last day of World War Two in a small town somewhere in Poland, Polish exiles of war and the occupying Soviet forces confront the beginning of a new day and a new Poland. In this incendiary environment we find Home Army soldier Maciek Chelmicki, who has been ordered to assassinate an incoming commissar. But a mistake stalls his progress and leads him to Krystyna, a beautiful barmaid who gives him a glimpse of what his life could be. Gorgeously photographed and brilliantly performed, Ashes and Diamonds masterfully interweaves the fate of a nation with that of one man, resulting in one of the most important Polish films of all time.

THE RATS WOKE UP
Velimir Bamberg lives a very lonely life. The only contact he has with the outside world is through the choral society to which he belongs. Bamberg has a sister who is ill. He would like to send her to the seaside, but he can’t afford it, and he doesn’t want to do anything illegal.

TWILIGHT by Feher Gyorgy, based on a screenplay written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. In this grim story, three murders of young girls are committed in a similar manner, and their bodies are all found in the woods. The only suspect, a young man assumed to be a pedophile, commits suicide during the investigation. A policeman becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of this serial killer and he continues to investigate even after he has been taken off the case.

SATANTANGO
Set in a struggling Hungarian agricultural collective, a group of lost souls reeling from the collapse of their Communist utopia face an uncertain future, until the arrival of a charismatic stranger in whom they believe lies their salvation.

RENGETEG
Hungarian director Benedek Fliegauf makes his feature-length debut with Rengeteg (Forest). Shot on digital video, the episodic film is composed of a series of seven different intimate parts book ended by footage of the same people in a large public space. These characters aren’t given an introduction, context, or even character names. Cinematographer Zoltan Lovasi shoots the ensemble cast of non-actors exclusively in close-ups, so the larger situation is never made completely clear. Each segment involves a small group of people in some kind of intense and possibly disturbing conversation.

STORY STYLE RECEPTION

IMPORT/EXPORT
A nurse from the Ukraine searches for a better life in the West, while an unemployed security guard from Austria heads East for the same reason. Astonishing fact of modern society by Ulrich Siedl.

TILVA ROŠ
Bor, Serbia, once the largest copper mine, now just the biggest hole in Europe. Small union protests are going on. Toda and Stefan are best friends, skaters, who spend their first summer after finishing high school. Stefan's going to Belgrade to the University in fall. Toda says he wouldn't apply to the University even if he had the money. They spend time shooting "Jackass-like" videos and hanging out with Dunja, who came back from France for her holidays, and get into a quiet battle for her attention. In that strange relationship of dying friendship and rivalry they try to get ahead of each other. But when small union protest evolves into a huge riot their destructiveness will tie them together.

REALISM IN ROMANIA
Niki Ardelean, colonel în rezerva by Lucian Pintilie (2003).
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu by Cristi Puiu (2005).
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 days by Cristian Mungiu (2007). Palme D’or in Cannes.
Police, Adj. by Corneliu Poromboiu (2009).

REALISM IN TURKEY
Distant, Climates, Three Monkeys, etc by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (2002-2008).
Times and Wind by Reha Erdem (2006).
Egg, Milk, Honey by Samih Kaplanoglu (2007-2010).

ENERGY FOR THE WINGS
FREEDOM of the AUTHOR…
Expressing thoughts, inventive style, imitation of life, full judgement on human kind.
FREEDOM of the SPECTATOR…
Feeling similar, or even equal with the author.
Ready (Open) to enjoy, to learn, to be inspired… whatever one will do for a feeling of personal freedom!

PERSPECTIVE OF CINEMA
• Freedom of the creative AUTHOR.
• Law budget of the PRODUCTION, and possibilities of co-production in the region.
• Network of DISTRIBUTION at furious development,
• Movies EVERYWHERE and EVERYTIME…
• Expressing the talent is the most valuable offer at the MARKET today…
Because…
Because, millions of SCREENS are SWITCHED ON every morning, but only a few brilliant IDEAS for a GOOD film story.

REVOLUTIONIZERS AT WORK, or Rebels of the East European Cinema

Explanation of the term REVOLUTIONIZER.
In context of today’s lectures it will be someone who put some advantage, one who speed up development of the society. Someone do it consciously, deliberately, and someone incidentally, haphazardly. Probably the second one has more chance to succeed, then the first one.

Hamvas Béla (1897-1968), writer, historian, essayist, and one of the most significant rebel of the 20th Century.

Some of his thoughts on literature and arts, and ideas about human society can help in intention to explain the crisis and false cults of modern times.

Literature was the leading criticizer of life, since the beginning of the 19. Century. For the last two hundred years literature have been just another service of marketing and prosperity of highly ranked individuals.

From it's early days, film is the fastest way to reach human’s heart! – as someone used to said.

So, in intent to deal with Hamvas’ opinion – we can get a film as the strong critic of everyday life of modern society, and don’t forget that Miloš Kundera, at the Congres of Czechoslovakian writers in 1971 said that modern cinema had very important role in national literature.

Character of East European Cinema during 60's and 70's will be analyzed in two aspects: stories and styles.

Great film on post-war reconciliation is PASAŽERKA “The Passenger” by Andrzey Munk (1961). A German woman on a ship coming back to Europe notices another woman which brings recollections from the past. She tells her husband that she has been an SS commander in Auschwitz during the War, but she has actually saved a young woman's life. And then starts her horrifying story from the past.

COLD DAYS by Kovacs Andras (1968), based on the novel written by Cseres Tibor. Repentance and remorse of imprisoned Hungarian officers at the aftermath of the three-day killings in Novi Sad in winter 1942.

Very complex story flows parallel in present and past time, the style is simple, and dominant color is white. The walls of the prison are white, faces of imprisoned soldiers are pale, and the river banks where victims were executed are covered by snow. Very theatrical atmosphere, and lot of close-ups, realistic style, without any music..

In Czechoslovakia Jiri Menzl shot CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS (1966), based on Bohumil Hrabal's novel and year earlier Kadar and Klos made THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET (1965). Stories of both films were setled in occupied Czechoslovakia. Both movies won an Oscar in the best forreing language feature category, but another movie is more interesting for us here.

THE JOKE (1969) Jaromil Jireš’s brilliant adaptation of Milan Kundera’s novel tells the fragmentary tale of a man expelled from the Communist Party because of a political joke. After “rehabilitation” in the mines and a stint in prison, he hatches a revenge plot against the former friend who betrayed him.

... and in the joke he wrote: "Optimism is the opium of the people! A healthy atmosphere stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!"

In Yugoslavia Aleksandar Saša Petrović finished his film THREE (1965), based on stories written by ex-partisan fighter Antonije Isaković. Miloš is a warrior who faces three death cases. 1st time at the railway station in the Serbian province, 2nd time after he escapes German’s raid, and his commrade did not. 3rd time when he is on a winning side in the War, and need to bring the important decission over the faith of accused young woman.

Unveiling the FORMULA: Complex story + simple style!

Jancso Miklos
In the brutal Civil War which took place, Hungarian volunteers supported the ‘Red’ revolutionaries in a war of attrition against the ‘White’ counter-revolutionaries who were seeking to restore the old Czarist order.

Leftist are shown as a motley, ill-equiped and loosely organized gathering of brave civilians and army deserters, while the Right are always represented by officers, elegant in their frogged uniforms, and indulging their autocratic whims between bouts of killing.

Parajanov
Made in 1964 after a decade spent laboring in socialist realism, Paradjanov's lysergic fever-dream of a movie is a tragic love story set in the Carpathian mountains of the Ukraine. His symbol-laded films, and especially his 1968 masterpiece The Color of Pomegranates, are a designer's gift: a parade of meticulously composed, gorgeously hued graphic images.

ELEMENTS OF NEW FILM
• To increase the latitude for individual and collective artistic expression and to free film from dogmatism and bureaucratic control.
• To promote stylistic experimentation in film form and film language
• To involve film in the expression of contemporary themes, including the right to critique the darker, ironic, alienated, and gloomier side of human, societal, and political existence, and
• To do all of these things within the context and premises of a Marxist-socialist state.

KNIFE IN THE WATER by Roman Polanski. When a young hitchhiker joins a couple on a weekend yacht trip, psychological warfare breaks out as the two men compete for the woman’s attention. A storm forces the small crew below deck, and tension builds to a violent climax.

LOVES OF A BLONDE by Miloš Forman. A factory manager in rural Czechoslovakia bargains with the army to send men to the area, to boost the morale of his young female workers. The army sends reservists, mostly married middle-aged men - and the local beauty Andula, spurns those bold enough to try to win her, for the jazz pianist, newly come from Prague to perform. He seduces her and impresses her, telling her "most women are round, like guitars but you are a guitar by Picasso". Staying the night with him causes a lecture on a young woman's honor at her hostel so she throws over her other suitors and makes her way to Prague to find the young man. His protective Mamma and weary Pappa are not pleased when she arrives on the doorstep with her suitcase.

Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator by Dušan Makavejev. After many adventures, young female switchboard operator Izabela starts a love relationship with a serious young man Meho Bušatlija. But while he's away on business, she gets lonely and succumbs to her colleague's passes. When the boyfriend returns, he gets into fight with his pregnant girl that ends up tragically. Makavejev made brilliant mixture of documentary shots with fiction, where he used parts of lectures about criminal acts, disinfection, cooking, etc.

LOVE (Szerelem) by Makk Karoly, based on Dery Tibor short story (1971).

The wife of a political prisoner tends to her mother-in-law and keeps from the old woman the truth about her son, whom she believes is in New York making a film.

Style of the movie is astonishing in it’s dynamic, with plenty short shots, a lot of them as old photographs. This is powerful way to express reminiscence from the life of old lady.

Witness by Bacso Peter

Everybody knows Pelikan Jozsef, the dike keeper who accidentally burnt his own house because of hard thinking on the enigma: "Suspicious things are those that are not suspicious."

NEW FILM AND REAL REALITY

In its initial development, new film was practically synonymous with personal films, films that claimed the right to subjective interpretation of the lives of individuals and society, the right to open metaphors, leaving room for viewers to think and feel for themselves.

Who’s Singin' Over There? By Slobodan Šijan. On April 5, 1941, a date Serbs will recognize, men on a country road board Krstic’s bus for Belgrade: two Gypsies who occasionally sing about misery, an aging war vet, a Nazi sympathizer, a dapper singer, a consumptive, and a man with a shotgun. Krstic is a world-weary cynic, out for a buck; the driver is his son, the simple, cheerful Misko. En route they pick up a priest and young newlyweds going to the seaside. Along the way, mis-adventure strikes: a flat tire, a rickety bridge, a farmer who’s plowed the road, a funeral, two feuding families, an army detail, and a lost wallet slow the bus and expose rifts among the travelers. On April 6, amid rumors of war, they reach Belgrade…

Narcisus and Psyche was the largest-scale Hungarian production of its era. This epic based on Sándor Weöres's poetic work Psyché is visual journey in which the spectator finds images of surprising originality and beauty.

Body Gabor says that he has tried to make Narcissus and Psyche a myth, a myth of antagonism born of European culture, according to which men and women can only find their physical and intellectual liberty at the expense of others.

“And in spite of 35 years of socialism, my generation is still living in this antagonism."

BLIND CHANCE by Krzystof Kieslowsky. Twenty-something Witek is desperately trying to catch a train leaving the station. Employing a narrative style later aped by Tom Tykwer in Run Lola Run, the three changing outcomes of his chase begin three different stories of his life: oppositionist, activist in a socialist organisation, and physician shunning politics.

CUTTING IT SHORT by Jiri Menzel. The film is an evocation of the childhood memories of Bohumil Hrabal in his provincial town of Nymburk, dominated by the local brewery. The main actors of the film, uncle Pepin and Maryška, are based on real family members of Hrabal: Maryška on his mother and uncle Pepin on his real uncle, who came to stay two weeks in the town but remained for four years. His spontaneous stories influenced a lot Hrabal's literary work.