Pas Koji Je Voleo

In the movie Pas Koji Je Voleo Vozove, director Goran Paskaljevic follows the life a tempestuous woman by the name of Mika. Throughout the film Mika is developed into a character who exemplifies solitude. We are made aware of Mika’s perpetual want for isolation at the very start of the film. Pas Koji Je Voleo Vozove begins by allowing its audience to form judgements on the lead character as we follow how Mika chooses to walk through life. One of the first scenes in the movie is of Mika betraying a traveling companion because she needs to protect herself. This theme of betrayal and desertion is very prominent in the film. As the film moves on Mika is betrayed in severe ways, once by a man she took on as a lover and another by a friend she considered trustworthy. As a direct parallel to all the betrayal and pessimism in the film, a young boy who had previously entered Mika’s life, comes to represent the fierce loyalty that can only be found in a species separate to humans; in a dog. From the moment this boy is introduced he makes it a point to explain that he is looking for his dog who jumped on a train in search of its master, him. This is ironic because the young boy, who always remains beside Mika when tragedy strikes, comes to metaphorically become the dog who the film is centered around. Hence the movie title Pas Koji Je Voleo Vozove, which translates to The Dog Who Loved Trains.

As the movie winds down to the end, the audience has been given reasons and examples explaining why Mika is a women who feels she needs to protect herself so fiercely and to do so in a manner that allows her to be alone. The movie comes full circle and at first glance it appears that Mika is about to desert the young boy, who has been the only stable and loyal presence in her life, without a care in the world. However, for what seems to be the first time in the film, Mika is emotionally affected by the consequences of her actions. Mika comes to a standstill, while on a moving train no less. She does not try to propel herself through her problems as she has done throughout the film. Instead, Mika sits and just mourns the tragedies in her life.

San Zimske Noci

San Zimske Noci directed by Goran Paskaljevic is a film about an autistic girl, Jovanna, and how she affects the people closest to her. Jovana’s mother, Jasana, provides for her daughter the only way she can, with a bit of deception. Jasana finds an abandoned home and moves into it with her daughter. When the owner, a man named Lazar, comes home after a long prison-esque trip, things take a shift and the story really begins. The scene where Lazar first comes across Jovana is shot in a slow and soft manner. Lazar watches the girl from behind a glass door and is mesmerized. This scene becomes an outline for the relationships of others with Jovana. Everyone around the autistic girl is only gifted with an outwardly glance at her. Jovana is con-caved within herself; within her own world. As stated by Jovana’s teacher, “Autistic children don’t seem to be of this world. They have no interest in our world.”

The story moves forward and we are alongside Lazar as he goes through his stages of acceptance of Jovana. At first his mesmerized and takes on the role of a father figure. Next, he wants her to be “normal”, taking her to rituals where there are calls for her to “wake up”. Finally, there is equilibrium, when in a wind scene Lazar murmurs, “You don’t understand. I don’t understand either.” Tragedy leads us to the final going-ons of San Zimske Noci. We are left with Jovana, an autistic girl who rejects the world around her, Lazar, a man haunted by his past, together in a car with a choice. Lazar has reached the end and is confiding in Jovana, when a beautiful thing happens. It seems that for a brief instance Jovana chooses to step into our world. She realizes her situation. The final scenes of San Zimske Noci are of Jovana walking forward and away from Lazar, her choice made, and telling him, in her own way, to make his.

Slovenka

Slovenka, directed by Damjan Kozole, is a film with with a basic theme of deception. The main character, Alexandra, is a young college student. Also, she is a prostitute. She chooses this line of profession, not because she is in desperate need of money, but because she wants more things of the materialistic nature. Throughout the film Alexandra does not hesitate to lie to get what she wants. Her most prominent lie is the one she tells her father. To her father Alexandra presents herself as a hardworking college student, who is most definitely not a prostitute. Slovenka switches prospectives between Alexandra and her father, Edo. Edo, a middle-class man, adores his daughter. He sees Alexandra in a light majestic to all else. When he is told of Alexandra’s profession he rejects the information. Even as the film is ending Edo never confronts his daughter directly.

Slovenka shows its audience a clear effect that keeping such a secret will have on a person. By the end of the movie, Alexandra is simply exhausted. Even though her life of prostitution has the one benefit of fast money, Alexandra is not happy. During various periods in the film she leaves her college in the city to go back home and hide. However, there is no rest for liars. Her job follows her in every aspect. The film Slovenka paints Alexandra as a greedy and deceptive girl. It is easy to focus all of the negativity her because she chose her lifestyle. We accept the very normal thing of gentleman callers paying for sex and shun the prostitute, who would not have a job with clients.

Tulum & Metastaze

Tulum, a very short and very haunting film, is accompanied by Metastaze, a longer and yet equally as powerful film. The common thread shared by Tulum and Metastaze is the devastation wrought by a war that has hit Croatia.

As the first scenes in Tulum progress it appears that the story is centered around a group of friends who have decided to go on a road trip. However, the film begins to unravel and we are left instead with shots of laughing faces, eerie music and an equally as eerie silence, grave-markers, and a dead monotony. Instead of the group of friends as main characters, there is only a woman going through a repetitive cycle of grief.

A similar variety of repetition can be found in Metastaze. However, in this film we are definitely following the lives of four friends, each troubled in their own way. First there is Filip, who is trying to please his parents, more specifically his father, but not become immersed within the life they want for him. Next is Krpa, the abuser. He walks around as if he is entitled to everything that he wants. He is the most physically dangerous of the group, with a short temper and an idiocy that allows him to act on impulses. Then, there is Kizo, who is the dim drunk. Kizo, although an alcoholic, maintains fierce values throughout the film. He believes in loyalty and treasures friendship. Finally, we come across Dejo. Dejo, the drug addict, maintains a role of selfishness in throughout film.

Although Metastaze has varying messages, there is a tension, resulting from the war, that is weaved into the film and that ties it nicely with the accompanying piece, Tulum. All throughout Metastaze, there are mentions of the war. There is a particular scene in which Krpa is willing to turn on his friend Dejo because of religious preferences. In this scene a line is drawn and a contrast made to the film Tulum. Where the characters in Metastaze were “friends” with conflict amongst themselves, the party in Tulum flowed together in harmony. However, even though the distinction is made, there is still that binding thread that makes the characters in both Tulum and Metastaze products of their surroundings; of the same war.

Politist, Adjectiv

“It’s something that stops me from doing bad, something that I’d afterwards regret.” The film Politist Adjectiv directed by Corneliu Porumboiu begins with a shot of a blurry image. This image serves as an entry into the basic and, at times, simplistic nature of the film. We are introduced to a police officer, Cristi, who is a man unhappy with the nature of the law he must enforce. The movie follows Cristi on the pursuit of criminals who are not justly deemed so. In the beginning, instead of going on a journey to prosecute innocent people, Cristi, goes against not only his boss, but the very structure of Romanian law, when he tries to sway the majority to the side of truth. For his efforts Cristi is ridiculed. When a demand for the definition of the word “conscience” is made by Cristi’s boss, Cristi replies in a simply profound and disheartening manner. Fight as he might Cristi realizes that his efforts to push the law in the direction of change has failed. All throughout the move we are presented with motion propelled foreshadowings; of the continuity of Cristi’s position at the police department. This is seen through the simple scenes in the movie where Cristi goes ignored by his co-workers, his boss, and even his wife. Cristi’s underdog status is made clearer once one observes that there are one too many scenes with the police-officer in a physical position of subservience to others.

Through this film Corneliu Porumboiu offers insight into the very real issue of Romanian law. That blurry image at the beginning of the film takes on the representation of Romanian law itself. There is a deadening of morality that some police officers must force themselves through in order to do his or her job. As stated Cristi’s boss in the film “moral law is to vague...it would lead to chaos.” However, there are those such as Cristi who’s moral blurs into the sharply cut law of Romania, but cannot do much to change such things.