deckokojiobecava

This slow burn dark folk (not really a) horror tale plays out in a small, derelict village in the beautiful but rather impoverished part of southeastern Serbia, in southeastern Europe. Through nice photography we are witnessing this family drama basically, encompassed by pagan/Slavic symbolism and mythology, even some kind of a cult - which doesn't make much sense since the Orthodox Christianity in Serbia is already inherently merged with the old Serb/Slavic faith through Saintsavaism.

Anyway, the decrepit village and eponymous mudbrick house look authentic, since this ancient type of house-building (with mud as a binder), although in a somewhat better shape than the house depicted here, can still be seen in some small rural parts of the country. What isn't realistic though, is that a family - parents who are about 50 yr old, and their teen/adolescent kid - would have, let alone want, to stay and live in their grandfathers run-down little house, and to see the brother (Paul) coming down from london like he inherited some castle, makes for a strange premise. Film's 70's folk horror-reminiscent and pagan aesthetic don't help too much here, because nothing seems really dangerous nor frightening, and one wonders if the creators even wanted this to be marketed and even made, as a truly 'horror' film, or merely a tribute to many older homegrown folk stories.

It looked nice though, didn't drag too long and I certainly appreciated the effort. 6/10.

Lepa Sela Lepo Gore (1996) is probably the Serbian director's finest movie.

Skilfully made story of life and death of a few people in a few days of the civil war in Bosnia, and days (and decades) that succeeded and preceded it all. In the vein of classic Serbian black humour-filled dramas, and also tracking in the steps of the classic (anti) war movies, this movie has it all really - good story (based on a true experience of one group of Serb soldiers during the war) and a tight and slick photography and editing, considering it's time and the circumstances (the filming was done in the area which was a battle zone just a few months before and in a country under West's sanctions at the time).

An honest and entertaining war drama from start to finish, and, as mentioned, this film nicely puts together feel of all the classic war films with that mid90s/early QT filming feel to it, for this hard and thrilling ride into the hell of war. Very good watch.

8/10.

Specijalno Vaspitanje (1977) (Special Education)

Low budget, down to earth, serious, personal and also quite cute Serbian drama about a community in a juvenile/abandoned kids educational center located on the outskirts of Belgrade. It's centered around two juvenile "inmates" (one fairly experienced and one fresh-cut) and their relationship with a new pedagogue in life they share inside and outside the juvenile center. It's grainy and realistic - typical of the home cinema of the era, and with some great 70s funk!

Specijalno Vaspitanje is pretty much great little ''real socialism" movie.

8/10.