Page 136 - Darko Štrajn, From Walter Benjamin to the End of Cinema: Identities, Illusion and Signification. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2017. Digital Library, Dissertationes, 29.
P. 136
from walter benjamin to the end of cinema
poetic and sentimental aspects, some hints about a possible love relation-
ship between the boy and a Slovenian girl.
Another storyline is about a non-Slovenian worker, a garbage collec-
tor named Huso (a typical Bosnian male name). Slovenia, the north west-
ern-most republic of Yugoslavia, was economically the most developed part
of the country and it therefore invited workers from other Yugoslav feder-
al republics. The wave of immigration grew stronger especially after the be-
ginning of the Yugoslav experiment in “market socialism” after 1965. In
about two decades, these internal “immigrants” finally approached some
8% of the total population of Slovenia (which totalled nearly two million
at the time). Especially interesting is the maddeningly complex pattern of
migrants’ ethnic structure: “Some members of nations and ethnic groups
came ‘from everywhere,’ and others from their republic of origin” (Mežnar-
ić, 1986: p. 70). Thus, for instance, Croats came from Croatia and from Bos-
nia-Herzegovina, Serbs mostly came from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Muslims,
who were recognized as an ethnic group in Yugoslavia, came from Bos-
nia-Herzegovina, religious Muslims, who were ethnically Albanian, came
from Kosovo, and so on. The “story” is used to show some foul circum-
stances of such workers’ lives in Slovenia and it deals with the character’s
homesickness and alcoholism. The Huso character dies of a heart attack.
The third story is the bizarre narrative of Marko Skače (the name is
also the title of a traditional Slovenian children’s song), who hates Bos-
nians. Marko visits places where Bosnian immigrants gather and attacks
individuals in public restrooms, biting their ears and noses. He is eventual-
ly apprehended by the police and subsequently undergoes psychiatric treat-
ment. Because of group therapy, his hatred for Bosnians finally turns into a
vague sympathy. He is shown again in the bars where Bosnian workers go
for their miserable entertainment, smiling with the grin of a tranquilized
person.
These stories are then interwoven with some semi-documentary im-
ages and especially with the addition of a dialogue between two Slovenian
musicians. One of them happened to have a sister that married a Bosnian.
The musicians’ comments that punctuate the movie lead to the impressive
ending of the film, which is presented later in this chapter.
A very specific aspect of the film is contained in the fact that it is not
based on a precisely elaborated and detailed script or rooted in a literary
work (a novel or story), but, more significantly, stems from sociological re-
search. In fact, Silva Mežnarić, a sociologist that carried out a critical soci-
134
poetic and sentimental aspects, some hints about a possible love relation-
ship between the boy and a Slovenian girl.
Another storyline is about a non-Slovenian worker, a garbage collec-
tor named Huso (a typical Bosnian male name). Slovenia, the north west-
ern-most republic of Yugoslavia, was economically the most developed part
of the country and it therefore invited workers from other Yugoslav feder-
al republics. The wave of immigration grew stronger especially after the be-
ginning of the Yugoslav experiment in “market socialism” after 1965. In
about two decades, these internal “immigrants” finally approached some
8% of the total population of Slovenia (which totalled nearly two million
at the time). Especially interesting is the maddeningly complex pattern of
migrants’ ethnic structure: “Some members of nations and ethnic groups
came ‘from everywhere,’ and others from their republic of origin” (Mežnar-
ić, 1986: p. 70). Thus, for instance, Croats came from Croatia and from Bos-
nia-Herzegovina, Serbs mostly came from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Muslims,
who were recognized as an ethnic group in Yugoslavia, came from Bos-
nia-Herzegovina, religious Muslims, who were ethnically Albanian, came
from Kosovo, and so on. The “story” is used to show some foul circum-
stances of such workers’ lives in Slovenia and it deals with the character’s
homesickness and alcoholism. The Huso character dies of a heart attack.
The third story is the bizarre narrative of Marko Skače (the name is
also the title of a traditional Slovenian children’s song), who hates Bos-
nians. Marko visits places where Bosnian immigrants gather and attacks
individuals in public restrooms, biting their ears and noses. He is eventual-
ly apprehended by the police and subsequently undergoes psychiatric treat-
ment. Because of group therapy, his hatred for Bosnians finally turns into a
vague sympathy. He is shown again in the bars where Bosnian workers go
for their miserable entertainment, smiling with the grin of a tranquilized
person.
These stories are then interwoven with some semi-documentary im-
ages and especially with the addition of a dialogue between two Slovenian
musicians. One of them happened to have a sister that married a Bosnian.
The musicians’ comments that punctuate the movie lead to the impressive
ending of the film, which is presented later in this chapter.
A very specific aspect of the film is contained in the fact that it is not
based on a precisely elaborated and detailed script or rooted in a literary
work (a novel or story), but, more significantly, stems from sociological re-
search. In fact, Silva Mežnarić, a sociologist that carried out a critical soci-
134
