Micransix Crappy film

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

gavin6942 Tito's break-up with Stalin in 1948 marked the beginning of not only confusing, but also very dangerous years for many hard-core Yugoslav communists. A careless remark about the newspaper cartoon is enough for Mesha to join many arrested unfortunates. His family is now forced to cope with the situation and wait for his release from prison. The story is told from the perspective of Malik, his young son who believes the mother's story about father being "away on business".Now, the director (whose name I won't write because I fear I'll butcher it) is a great artist, and quite possibly the greatest storyteller out of Yugoslavia. Indeed, we do not think of them having a film industry and yet he has made many great works.But this is not my favorite. I love when he digs his toes into the surreal, and this film fails on that count. There is still a dash of humor here and there, but the film still runs a little too long and is too serious. Subject matter like this probably should be serious, but if his other work is any indication, it has a greater impact when it is not.

FADrury "When Father was Away on Business" tells a complex story about life in Yugoslavia in the 50's. A man is convicted of what can only be described as an "inproper socialist attitude." However, his real crime is having an affair with the local hot socialist babe (a young Mira Furlan) who's attracted the attention of his brother-in-law, a local party official. The film outlines the impact of this man's arrest and imprisonment on his family, with special focus on his youngest son. The father is finally released, the family survives, but the scars on all sides will never heal. Noting some of the other reviews, there are details to this film that will likely be lost on the casual viewer. I believed the family was Jewish, only to learn from other reviews that they were actually Muslim. Also, awareness of Yugoslavia's strained relationship with the USSR is helpful. While I found the film interesting, the father's continued philandering made him a rather despicable figure. The young boy's retreat into sleep walking is probably a comment on what it took to survive in that society. The Father-in-Law's desire to act as if nothing had actually happened to his son-in-law is a hint here. The wife is the true martyr in this story, faithful to a cheating husband, willing to finally reach out to her brother who betrayed them both and trying desperately to give her boys a decent life.

Brandt Sponseller This is yet another film where I had some problem figuring out many plot elements and character relationships, where some of the blame might rest on having to rely on subtitles. I also do not know much of the complicated history of Bosnia, so that didn't help me to understand the context, either.It took me at least half the film to figure out all of the character relationships, and this is really a "slice of life" story--albeit set, in the 1950s, in what's apparently a confusing, changing, communist political landscape. But it's important to know each character's relation to other characters as well as a bit of their personal backgrounds and histories with each other--character development is of primary importance, but I'm not sure it was always fleshed-out as it needed to be.It also didn't help (as it never does in any film) that a few characters looked very similar, and at least one has a major change of appearance, and a major change back. For example, I never was completely clear on whether the woman on the train with the father at the beginning, with whom he was having an affair (he was quite the philanderer), was also the female pilot in the airshow, and also the gym teacher, who was also his brother-in-law's wife. And the reason that the father went away to some kind of prison work camp was never very clear to me either. Ostensibly it was because he made a remark about a cartoon in a newspaper, but that seems ridiculous (although maybe that's more realistic than I can imagine and is part of the point), and I kept thinking that the real reason was for the brother-in-law to get back at him for the affair with the brother-in-law's wife.In any event, despite my confusion, this is a fairly good film, with great performances. The family's youngest son is at times a narrator and is featured in a poignant subplot, but Otac na sluzbenom putu would have benefited by making him even more of the focus and point of view.

francois chevallier I simply can't believe there are so few viewer comments for this movie, that won the PALME D'OR in Cannes in 1985! By the way, it represented Yugoslavia, a country wich no longer exists...It was much of a surprise back then, as Kusturica was totally unknown, and the movie was entirely produced at home with no financial contribution from abroad. No doubt, this is in the top 3 of best Yugoslavian films, if not he best one ever.This film is a historical, not only because it deals with a specific historical context, but most of all, because it was all done in SARAJEVO a mere six years before the outbreak of war, at a time when nobody suspected how things would eventually turn out. Note that the movie shows a place where Muslims, Christians and Jews coexist in peace, and this is quite a symbol today when you watch it knowing what came next. It is highly probable that some of the crew died during the Yugoslav conflict, which took place around that same city and cost 300,000 lives.The lead role by little Moreno de Bartolli is certainly one of the most amazing child performances on screen ever. Otherwise, two of the actors appeared in famous films after that. Miki Manojlovic who plays the father, is a Kusturica regular, and has become famous internationally; the late Davor Dujmovic who plays the elder brother plays also the lead role as Perhan in "Time of the Gypsies". Generally speaking, all the acting here is first class.Also, it isn't so often that the world of adults is shown through the eyes of a child, and when it's done, it is often in a twee or awkward manner. Not at all here. Besides, Kusturica's first work has a very honest and sensitive approach of themes like fatherhood, adultery and betrayal. It 's all lightyears away from the frenzy found in the artist's later work.Warning : this movie is highly emotional. When I saw it again recently after a long time, I'm not ashamed to say I wept twice, and I'm not a single case. Yet, it is often very funny as well. Note that, unlike many European movies, it ends rather well and on a hopeful note. If you like tragi-comical movies like "the Bicycle Thief", no doubt you will love this too.The very light sexual allusions and nudity caused an R rating in America. Quite a pity, as this work is far more decent than most releases, and would be a lot more interesting and appealing for young audiences than the idiotic stuff they are used to watch. I would even consider showing this in schools.Definitely a 10 out of 10, as far as I'm concerned.