There are many things I don't understand, like - for instance - why is a boring and pretentious mess like "2001: A Space Odyssey" considered as a brilliant classic, whereas the genuine masterpiece "H-8" is totally unknown and unloved? Seriously, this is a fantastic film, with a storyline that is still very relevant and emotionally involving today even though it's more than 65 years old already. The rating is high, all the reviewers unanimously agree about the quality, so why isn't "H-8" better known? Because it's a foreign film from a region (Croatia, although back then still Yugoslavia) that isn't exactly known for its cinematic inheritance? Perhaps, but that's even more reason to seek it out!
"H-8" has a very simple and identifiable plot. In fact, it doesn't even have a real plot, as it's based on a tragic road accident between a passenger bus and a truck as it occurred in Croatia on April 14th, 1957. An accident like there sadly are several ones each year and all around the world, which cost the life of seven innocent people. The accident got caused by a reckless car whose takeover maneuver, at high speed and in the pouring rain, caused for the truck to deviate from its lane and ram the passenger bus frontally. The car, of which the license place started with H-8, didn't even bother to stop, and drove off with dimmed headlights. The movie is "dedicated" to the cowardly driver of the car.
This is one of those rare and uniquely sober productions that manages to perplex the viewer with pure realism. It's a reminder that tragedy and painful incidents happen daily, and very close to all of us. We just don't think about them too much for as long as somebody dear to ourselves isn't directly involved. "H-8" confronts us with the agonizing fact there's drama behind every casualty. The script gives the people on the bus and in the truck faces, names, backgrounds, and detailed insights in their personalities. By the time you're beginning to know them, and care for them, their lives are ended cruelly and abrupt. And you know what makes it even more harrowing? You could make a movie for almost every accident like this that happens in the world.
The most extraordinary quality of "H-8" is its narrative structure. The first 10-15 minutes stoically cover the straight facts, like a news bulletin or an article read aloud. It's obviously tragic, but you hear and read about similar accidents frequently. You overhear the number of casualties, and you see the vehicle wreckages, but it doesn't evoke many emotions. Then, the clock turns back several hours, to the boarding of the passengers for the bus to Zagreb, and the time spent together between the truck driver and his son. Throughout the rest of the film, these people become individuals rather than road accident statistics. They represent society, as there are men, women, and children. Some or returning home, others hope to escape. As the moment of the accident approaches, and it already is clear that the passengers sitting in the front of the bus are most likely to die, the script brilliant mounts the suspense there are several people switching places.
It's indescribably fantastic. Please, search for this motion picture!
