Jovana Lukina

This is a definite must-see for all the lovers of the avantgarde cinema. The plot is set in the mountains of Montenegro. A young married couple- Jovana and Luka, live alone and work hard to make ends meet. Their ordinary life is interrupted by various different characters, which pass by their home, and arrive as a temptation, both carnal and spiritual, but also as a corruption of the innocent soul of a young idealistic woman. Each new visitor is a threat of sorts and gradually she becomes suspicious towards the world and the unknown. The film has very little dialogue, and it stresses the visual and the atmosphere at the most. Although intriguing and beautiful to watch, I felt that it lacked substance. 7.3/10

This is a difficult movie to follow. If you want to relax on a weekend with this one on the screen, you will probably make a wrong call.

Remember Jodorowski? 'The Mole', for example? Visual appeal of this movie is almost as stunning as that we found in some of the Jodorowski movies. Here I am talking about 'visual appeal' in all its avatars. Starting from spectacular cinematography, to astonishing the sense of perspective; starting from subdued yet suggestive use of colors to startling montages - 'Jovana Lukina' will present you with ample eye-catching goodies. The fact that this work is highly stylized, helps in appreciating these visually appealing aspects. This is not all. If you have a background in proscenium theater, you will enjoy the stellar use of typical theatrical formations too. One gets an idea that, probably, a lot of time was spent during the casting of this movie too; which lends (almost) each and every character of this movie with their distinct archetypal looks. - This movie helps the viewer to learn many things.

Why then, after writing all these nice words, I call it a "(rather) forgettable" movie? - Simply because, classic films provide something for the grey-matter too. In that front, there's nothing else other than thundering silence that this movie can present you with. The script is so poorly written that at times, you would be tempted to say "to hell with this nonsense". But one cannot entirely blame poor script, the basic storyline underlying the script is so lousy that at times you feel like asking yourself "did they at all want to be serious?" – There's nothing wrong in having minimal dialogue; but dialogue should at least imply something deep. Shallow conversations couldn't hold the depth of visual appeal of this movie; - that's a shame.

Performances, in general, compete with scriptwriting and story in their astonishing level of incompetence. At times they were so unprofessional, preposterous and ludicrous that you might wonder "haven't these guys ever acted even in their annual school shows?".. As a result, almost all the characters of this movie, all throughout the duration, hover over the murky boundary between being improbable and unlikely.

An absence of suggestive music completes the long list of absentees, without whom a creation cannot expect itself to be called a 'movie'.

Cinema is an amalgamation of all the art forms; imagery, however brilliant, cannot make movies by themselves. I understand that all movies might not necessarily delve into "realism"; but that does not imply an overwhelming lack of every other cinematic factor, barring, of course, the stunning visual appeal.

Merima Isakovic, in the character of Jovana, is good looking. Her beauty, not dazzling but classical, helps the viewer to go through scores of mind-numbing yet visually attractive scenes.