Everybody who knows me also knows perfectly well that I'm a movie and TV idiot – I didn't watch anything, nor I plan to do so. I never understood the hype about the new TV shows nor spending sleepless nights while watching them. In 95% of the cases when somebody makes me watch a movie I curse them off. I mean, don't get me wrong, I watch stuff, but I have a very specific taste (in other words: I'm pretentious as fuck). Anyway, there are some movies that made me think, some of them made me laugh, and exactly three (!) of them even made me cry like a little bitch – and this text is dedicated to them. If you're interested in how to break my spirit, the following information might be interesting to you. LET'S GO!
1. Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (Lepa sela lepo gore)
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame is a 1996 Serbian film directed by Srđan Dragojević set during the „Yugoslavian Civil War“ (NB for everybody coming from ex-Yugo countries – chill the fuck down. At least I used the quotation marks, didn't I?) The film tells the story of Milan, who's a part of a small group of Serb soldiers trapped in a tunnel by a Bosniak force. Through flashbacks, we see the lives of the trapped soldiers in pre-war Yugoslavia and it's fricking touching, but in a funny and nonchalant way. Because this is how our movies are. However, there was one scene where some village gets racked and everything is in flames and getting destroyed, and here's where the problem starts – the song choice. The director chose the song which goes „The whole Yugoslavia is dancing rock'n'roll“. I mean, the irony is obvious and most would say not THAT impressive. But people, I cried like there is no tomorrow. God knows what was up with me in that moment, it was years ago, although I think I was on my period. Check out the scene up there!
2. Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)
Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 Italian drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The plot goes like this: In Rome, in the 1980s, famous Italian film director Salvatore Di Vita returns home late one evening, where his girlfriend tells him that his mother called to say someone named Alfredo has died. As his girlfriend asks him who that guy was, Salvatore flashes back to his childhood – and that's where the story starts. I won't go into details, nor I'm going to spoil anything, but this movie is one of the best ones I watched in a looooooong time. And yes, once again, I cried like a little bitch for the last 20 minutes of the movie. When I told my Italian co-workers about my sobbing, they just answered: „You're not human if you don't cry to this movie.“
3. Ballad of a Soldier (Ballada o soldate)
Ballad of a Soldier is a 1959 Soviet film set during World War II, however it is not primarily a war film. It recounts, within the context of the turmoil of war, various kinds of human relationships, and let's say love. As our protagonist, a Red Army soldier, tries to make it home during a leave, meeting several civilians on his way, he doesn't see sorrow and destruction – he's looking for something humane in all of that mess. He also meets a gal on his way, and they fall in love and all that stuff. Not only the plot is brilliant, but also the general aesthetic of the movie frame is fricking gorgeous. It's more like a photography collage than anything else. Soviet movies are mostly masterpieces, and this one is no exception. And I cried, OOOOOH I cried. I remember being sceptical while starting this one, because I'm not a fan of the war movies, but this one was out of this world.
Just watch them, OK?
Yours truly,
Magda