Chronicle of evil, cruelty and madness

In the life of mature people, a significant part of the investment in an even calmer existence falls on the ability to agree with oneself. What exactly does that mean? Let's say, being in agreement with yourself means being at least somewhat amused (already based on the trailer) by the extravagant collaboration of cinematographer Alejandro González Iñárritu (Returnee, A dog's life, Crow Man, Babylon, Beautiful) and big movie star Tom Cruise on film Diger, even when it becomes completely clear that the film will be deeply misunderstood by a huge part of the audience. In the same way, if we narrow the visor to our neighbors, a deal with ourselves dictates to every sincere and discerning film lover to be excited at the start of living in a year in which the legendary Lordan Zafranović returns to a feature film of a long length and with visibly large auteur ambitions. And really, is there anyone who feels good about the film without being delighted by the fact that after 31 years of (of course, forced) abstinence the magician Zafranović offers us something new?

photo: promo

NO COMPROMISE

Here immediately and a few steps in the direction of (again, common sense) reserve. Zafranović is the author of old fashioned, obsessive themes that are not at all compatible with the time in which he somehow managed to realize them, while the film itself as an art has visibly changed, and even that film that in the era of Zafranović's dominance was simply labeled as artistic, while for some time now it has been embellished with a more sonorous definition art house. In that sense, it really shouldn't surprise anyone that it is Golden ratio '42 Children of Kozara, whose dramatic focus is dominated by the suffering of children, a film with an old age essence, including the ambition in approach, momentum and production, which to a large extent has long since faded from contemporary cinema. All this can be easily understood, and perhaps even explained by the unacceptably long period between this and the previous Zafranović's feature-length screenwriting and directing work. This is perhaps most evident in the factual plot: the film lasts about 250 minutes, which is a true rarity in the last few decades (excluding, of course, the steadfast Lava Díaz, whose most recent film, the Magellan biopic, lasts "only" 160 minutes). Therefore, it can be inferred that Lordan Zafranović approached his film with the ambition characteristic of other times, as well as with the awareness that he is returning to film direction in his ninth decade of life.

Therefore Golden ratio '42 Children of Kozara it inevitably requires a very ambitious viewer, who even on an empathetic level feels the context from which this film emerged and in which it was created. This, again, brings us back to the necessity of as honest an agreement as possible with ourselves, whereby we must remember what makes Zafranović such a special film storyteller, and why we should rejoice in his return, even when he deals with such a deeply disturbing topic as the genocide of Serbs, Jews, Roma and ideological dissenters in the Second World War, in the Jasenovac camp and its associated "labor organizations". It seems the most natural and simplest to us to accept that Zafranović, in his creative burst, deals with the subject that most obsesses and touches him, that he feels best and deeply, and that he deals with it in the way he considers the most suitable, that is, in the way that, at one time, brought him undivided respect. In this way, it is easier to follow and understand the expressiveness and explicitness of the staging of highly emphasized violence that continues from chapter to chapter of this wide-ranging chronicle of evil, cruelty, and insanity, and then, consequently, to face the hopelessness of the victims. In this film, Zafranović dissolves the boundaries of uncompromisingness with the violence he deals with, and this film may find its audience among horror fans who especially appreciate and love the genre formally and informally designated as torture porn. It is used to denote those works that show unbridled violence.

TEMPTING THE VIEWERS

On that note, Zafranović's film is not for those who are more fearful, easily squeamish and faint of heart, with the fact that something like that was to be expected - partly because of the theme itself, partly because Zafranović first got us used to it, and then in a way sensitized us to scary scenes with the film. Occupation in 26 pictures. Spectators more prone to contemplation will necessarily be haunted by the question of whether the scenes of violence were necessary to that extent, whether the details of the unrestrained, destructive murderous zeal of the Ustasha elite and accompanying "contractors" are artistically justified? Ten days after watching the film, the author of this review believes that Zafranović's approach, with all the controversies, possible outcomes and consequences of such a choice, was the most suitable "clothing" for a story of that tone and essence. Otherwise, we would get, say, a completely unnecessary variation on excellent Saul's son by Laszlo Nemeš, a film that is impeccable in its carefully nuanced implicity. In addition, even in his best and/or most notable works, Zafranović did not reach for solutions that could be labeled with the Anglo-Saxon term understatement - purposefully reduced, "told in a quieter voice", more allusive than direct. And therefore, Golden ratio '42 is the work of its author, just as it most naturally adheres to his oeuvre, including the disarray, as a consequence of the breadth of the narrative and visual momentum, and immoderation, which, of course, already at the start cannot be to the liking of the majority.

It is questionable and even counter-reasonable to deal with detecting examples of obvious drops in rhythm, because here we are talking about an achievement, let's repeat, 250 minutes long. Padova, therefore, quite naturally has, and there is also the issue of maintaining focus (watching, listening, reading...), which, to be honest, is also a planetary problem, especially after the corona. It is clear that Zafranović's film does not in the least contribute to distraction, but it certainly presents a real test for the unprepared viewer-intended. In contrast to this, there is the impression that, in addition to everything just pointed out, Golden ratio '42, is to be praised on account of the obvious, sometimes frenetic dynamism in the presentation. Zafranović should be congratulated for that alone, as well as for the impressive artistry of certain parts (such as the really fascinating scene of the explosion of the well and what follows in the first quarter of the film), and for a series of quite successful acting creations, among which the young Aleksej Bjelogrlić is leading in the Hollywood-mature and precise interpretation of perhaps the most complex character, a young, enraged Ustasha executioner who does everything to win the praise of Luburić and others of his superiors, including willingly changing the murderous norm, but also to save a Serbian boy-in-camp who, after all, was especially close to his heart. Unreserved praise goes to Milivoj Beader for the wisely measured, and in fact unbridled theatricality in the interpretation of the character of manager Jasenovac, and to Rena Bitorajac in the role of Maks Luburić, for an unforced, but certainly effective illustration of the banality of evil and the folly of those who undeniably voluntarily surrender to it. Leon Lučev shows, in accordance with the mentioned cut of the film, the contemporary diversity in the actor's expression within the interpretation of one/the same character, which then grows into something more than what it seemed at the beginning. It is also worth mentioning the very young Milica Stanković in the minimalistic and effective performance of the archetypal character of the camp girl Zora (later also Zoran), where Stanković makes an excellent contribution to the common good by instinctively reacting to the text, circumstances and conditions that need to be portrayed. Here, perhaps, is the right place to mention the moderation that appears in the finale in terms of the distribution of characters, where in one of the last chapters (called "The Righteous"), we follow the attempts of civilians of obvious Croatian national character to help the victim who somehow managed to escape from that inconceivable hell of the heated factory of death.

CULTURAL CAPITAL

This film appears in the whirlwind of these or those examples of always somnabolic historical revisionism, which always and unfailingly fuel the myth of history repeating itself over and over again, which then implicitly and powerfully gives Zafranović's film a fuller reason for existence at this very moment. If it is necessary to express more decisively and openly, this is a film that trots for Evening bells (as a constant epitome within Zafranović's entire oeuvre), a film with a lot of excess, in fact, a film that is visibly seething because it contains several films, while this immoderation and excess remain to the end an important trump card and confirmation of authorship and the author's consistent approach. To tell the truth, occasional production inadequacies catch the eye, in which the possibilities fall short of the vision of the main author of the film: namely, it was part of the price that had to be paid (metaphorically) for this film to be made at all. This brings us to the case of Iñárritu and Cruz, whose film Diger has recently completely and severely sunk at the box office. But in the end it doesn't matter that much. Regardless of the viewership that Zafranović's film will achieve, films like Diggers or Golden ratio... are tangible cultural capital (just like, say, Vavilon author Damian Chazelle a few years ago), because the author's ambition alone is a convincing enough reason for praise and even admiration.

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