IFFK – Day 7 – Afternoon

A Balkan Comedy

I saw an interestingly titled Croatian film What is a Man Without a Moustache, directed by Hrvoje Hribar, in New Theatre. The title perfectly captures the mood of the film. The film depicts the happenings in a Croatian village. The main thread of the movie is the fruitless love affair between a young widow and a good-looking priest, who is trying hard to resist his temptation to alcohol. Just as in the case of alcohol, he could not resist the feelings towards this beautiful woman. All these incidents are shown in a shade of satire. There are plenty of scenes that evoke rapturous laughter from the audience, like the affair between the general of the army and the defense minister and the actions of the alcoholic priest. If I have to give a verdict on the movie, it will be something like this: this is not a must-watch, great film, but a decent comedy.

The initial enthusiasm of most of the delegates has died down, it appears. There was not much crowd for this movie. Also, some people indulged in non-stop talking in theatre while watching the movie. My guess is that they must be some failed intellectuals or upcoming politicians. I suffered the most, as, to paraphrase a famous film dialogue, of all seats in all theatres of all this festival, they chose to sit next to mine. Next I am going to watch I Served the King of England by Jiri Menzel in Remya theatre. More satire is in cards, it seems.