More than a quarter of a century after its release, Geto gets the first review on iMDb. Is it a sign that the message of the movie failed to reach the audience? Or is the reality not that simple?
Hailed as a beacon of hope, Geto offered a possible vision of alternative music in Serbia at the end of the 20th century.
It's worth mentioning that the mainstream media had little interest in showcasing anything outside the folk and turbofolk genres at a time, with a limited tolerance for rock'n'roll.
Without going into deeper analysis, alternative music became the creative outlet for all that were looking beyond fun and games. More than that, the music one listened became the ID and anticipated the political affiliation. Although, the choice was limited between "us" and "them".
Even the narrator looks down upon "them", because "they" conquered the cultural space that might have been "ours". For that matter , the narrator has been aptly chosen, no less than Goran Cavajda, who was among now mythical figures that created the New Wave of the 1980s in Yugoslavia and paved way for most of the musicians featuring in Geto.
The choice of musicians is a weak spot of the movie. The only song that remains relevant outside the aficionado circles today is "Hocu Da Znam" by Partibrejkers. However, Partibrejkers came to prominence during the 1980s and the song in question was arguably their creative peak.
Yet, the truly ironic twist of fate came five years after the release of Geto. In 2000 the democracy has been restored but "our" guys didn't pursue the creative avenues marked in the movie. They joined "them" in the market based economy. To be clear what it meant, let's just say Radio B92, the stronghold of alternative culture during the 1990s branched out into television and introduced Big Brother reality show to Serbia. By that time, however, Goran Cavajda was in some better place.
