Cirkus Columbia

Academy Award winner, Danis Tanovic ("No Man's Land", "Hell", "Triage") has chosen Toronto for the North American Premiere of his 4th feature film, the bitter-sweet tale of life in post- communist/ pre-war Bosnia-Herzegovina. This comic drama is based on Ivica Djikic's novel "Cirkus Columbia". We meet Divco Buntic, (Miki Manojlovic) returning to his small hometown in southern Herzegovina after a 20 year absence. Now a middle-aged man he flaunts his obvious success, his sleek Mercedes, loads of cash, a beautiful, young paramour, Azra (Jelena Stuplianin) and Bonnie, his beloved black cat. We soon find out that when Divko fled the communists he left behind a wife (Mira Furlan) and young son (Boris Ler). Manoljlovic and Furlan both deliver superb performances....

The fourth feature film from writer-director Danis Tanovic is the account of an unexpected family reunion in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991, as the political power is shifting and war is emerging. Warm, beautiful, humorous and reflective.

I wont bother with a plot review, just to say the acting, directing and photography was excellent. Unlike most American films, it unfolds slowly, but we were rewarded with rich subplots and building tension as the Balkan war advances rapidly, and our characters' lives are forced to confront their past and make choices about the new reality. I especially found Mira Furlan's acting very compelling.

The plot was able to handle several subjects well: politics, greed, corruption, and class; plus the tensions of split families, troubled couples, and new love. Above all, while the story takes place in one town with divergent and quirky characters, they were believable.

So first the plot: it's about a man who comes back to Yugoslavia after the Communists are down (he ran because of the commies so now he can come back), that man brings with him his trophy new wife and through the movie tries to show that he's the most important man in town (This story of the man showing off might have worked if it was done to the end, but it seems that the director couldn't decide and left it somewhere in the middle). And meanwhile his son and wife starting to get very close. This part is done well I think but resembles too many other books/movies that talk about similar issues (like "Lolita" & "27 Missing Kisses")

Frankly this movie is nice but without anything to say. Maybe as a first movie for a director it's a triumph but for the intelligent viewer it's just another movie that will be forgotten & never remembered.

Another disappointing point is that the movie could have done much more about explaining and showing how the Yugoslavian civil war started but again the director simplifies it (to a fight between two kids over a girl, like really?....)

There is nothing important in this movie except bit of romance. Typical. There are few good scenes in form of confrontations and brutality, which is appropriate for pre-war times. Characters look too amateur, but not the most amateur ones. This give insight into such pre war times of not only emotions like romance, but also relationships, landscape, and behavior and organization of people then. Too long so bit boring. This may like more Yugoslavian people.