Page 154 - Darko Štrajn, From Walter Benjamin to the End of Cinema: Identities, Illusion and Signification. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2017. Digital Library, Dissertationes, 29.
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from walter benjamin to the end of cinema
er author, who in the form of romantic comedy challenged social norms in
his film Što je muškarac bez brkova? (What is a Man without a Moustache?
– 2005.) The film story is about love between a young widow and a catho-
lic priest, which was seen as a bit of a provocative theme in the overwhelm-
ingly catholic Croatia, but of course, it has a message for other audiences
as well, considering all the talk about sexuality in the Catholic Church all
over the world. Another quite productive director Ognjen Sviličić joins the
ranks of the same club. For instance in his film Oprosti za kung fu (For-
give Me for Kung Fu – 2004) he presents the world of the transition, where
many social conflicts have roots in different realities. “In this film, it is par-
adoxical that kung fu as a global cultural product is introduced as a syno-
nym for local narrow-mindedness, provincialism, and xenophobia” (Vojk-
ović, 2008: 88). Three young directors (Zvonimir Jurić, Boris T. Matić and
Antonio Nuić) completed in the same year stylistically rough and narra-
tively unbalanced and yet an intriguing film, which combines documenta-
ry shots of football fans and acted scenes, which are finished in a comple-
tion of destiny. Finally, there are attached scenes of heavy drinking at one’s
of the football fans home. The host’s wife is humiliated and bashed in front
of the group. The title of the movie gives itself a clear message: Sex piće i krv-
oproliće (Sex, Drink and Bloodshed – 2004).
Serbia
Ivana Kronja is quite critical about Serbian cinema after 2000 from a fem-
inist viewpoint: “The majority of Serbian films after the year 2000 show a
tendency of re-traditionalization and re-establishment of patriarchal values
in terms of male-female gender roles and women’s rights” (Kronja, 2008:
67). Many of the Serbian films from this period are indeed showing a grim
social picture. As the critic rightly says, they suggest a retreat to the tradi-
tional (i.e. patriarchal) values in the political and cultural convulsions of a
process of coming to terms with recent historical blows to the Serbian iden-
tity. They propose a sense of self-respect of members of the nation. Serbia,
as it seems, has not only the most troubles in the field of filmmaking among
Balkan countries in the way of a kind of small world cinema cinematogra-
phy, but also in the field of film-viewing. In a relatively successful attempt
of world cinema to be present in the Balkans through director Angelina
Jolie with a film In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011), the tragedy of the
Bosnian war is presented in a classical narrative (as Elsaesser would say) as
an emotional encounter between a Serbian military man and Bosnian cap-
152
er author, who in the form of romantic comedy challenged social norms in
his film Što je muškarac bez brkova? (What is a Man without a Moustache?
– 2005.) The film story is about love between a young widow and a catho-
lic priest, which was seen as a bit of a provocative theme in the overwhelm-
ingly catholic Croatia, but of course, it has a message for other audiences
as well, considering all the talk about sexuality in the Catholic Church all
over the world. Another quite productive director Ognjen Sviličić joins the
ranks of the same club. For instance in his film Oprosti za kung fu (For-
give Me for Kung Fu – 2004) he presents the world of the transition, where
many social conflicts have roots in different realities. “In this film, it is par-
adoxical that kung fu as a global cultural product is introduced as a syno-
nym for local narrow-mindedness, provincialism, and xenophobia” (Vojk-
ović, 2008: 88). Three young directors (Zvonimir Jurić, Boris T. Matić and
Antonio Nuić) completed in the same year stylistically rough and narra-
tively unbalanced and yet an intriguing film, which combines documenta-
ry shots of football fans and acted scenes, which are finished in a comple-
tion of destiny. Finally, there are attached scenes of heavy drinking at one’s
of the football fans home. The host’s wife is humiliated and bashed in front
of the group. The title of the movie gives itself a clear message: Sex piće i krv-
oproliće (Sex, Drink and Bloodshed – 2004).
Serbia
Ivana Kronja is quite critical about Serbian cinema after 2000 from a fem-
inist viewpoint: “The majority of Serbian films after the year 2000 show a
tendency of re-traditionalization and re-establishment of patriarchal values
in terms of male-female gender roles and women’s rights” (Kronja, 2008:
67). Many of the Serbian films from this period are indeed showing a grim
social picture. As the critic rightly says, they suggest a retreat to the tradi-
tional (i.e. patriarchal) values in the political and cultural convulsions of a
process of coming to terms with recent historical blows to the Serbian iden-
tity. They propose a sense of self-respect of members of the nation. Serbia,
as it seems, has not only the most troubles in the field of filmmaking among
Balkan countries in the way of a kind of small world cinema cinematogra-
phy, but also in the field of film-viewing. In a relatively successful attempt
of world cinema to be present in the Balkans through director Angelina
Jolie with a film In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011), the tragedy of the
Bosnian war is presented in a classical narrative (as Elsaesser would say) as
an emotional encounter between a Serbian military man and Bosnian cap-
152
