Ti mene nosis

I was lucky to had the chance to watch this movie during my trip to Zagreb, amazingly enough Zagreb's movie theater had English subtitles so foreigners and tourist like me where able to enjoy this great movie. The astonishing thing about the stories in this movie is that they are so relateable to everyone, in one way or in the other we have experienced what the characters experience. You carry me characters makes you live the story with them, they make you feel what they feel, this movie gives you an (positive) emotional roller coaster. It is incredible how captured you get by the story, how you live every moment with the characters. It is one of the better movies I have seen lately, and I truly hope that everyone who will have the chance will go to the Cinema and enjoy it as much as I did.

First I have to say I watched the film at Pula film festival. When they say „Under the stars" it really means under the stars. I always loved watching film on the open, but Pula's Arena is gorgeous. (My fist time there, so maybe it shows a little  ) The ambiance is totally great. Antient roman amphitheater, warm summer night, giant screen... Great! It is a such a great place for films. I think I found a right place for this fabulous movie. Several thousand people enyojed the film with me. Presentation was short (that is always good) and after that we just immerged into stories. I loved it, and people around me loved it. Six times!!!! the spontaneous applause boursted out. It was like the crows could not wait for the end to show their enthusisam. The atmosphere was really special. Some special vibe flew above roman theater. Eerybody found a peace for themselves. The film is great. It's strong. It holds on you. I'm really happy I was a part of that.

I really liked it. Although my first thought was it is rather long, I read some great critics on several of my favorite sites so I decided to give it a try. 155 minutes just passed by without me noticing it. It is not heart-braking drama with cheesy happy end. It has a kind of happy end, but in a rather realistic way. It's a movie you have to think about, where you put yourself in someone's else's shoes. It speaks about the need to be loved as we are, but at the same time we want to change the others, not willing to change ourselves. Really worth seeing.

At the beginning, there is a chaos. Then main characters start to appear, each with her or his unique life story. They are tender,funny, tragic or brutal.Some stories are connected, some not. As their lives move on in concentric circles,we get involved,take sides, shed tears or laugh. The strongest character for me is Natasa,women who is about to lose everything and yet believes that we carry each other, help each other because this is what life is about. All actors are good, but Natasa Dorcic brings more of herself into her role.It is one of these cases when you have a feeling that the actor is not acting. This is a first feature film from a young Croatian director Ivona Juka. Yet, it is profound film that will make you forget prejudices towards the country and cinematography that you do not know - providing you have any.

„You Carry Me" is actually a really untypical movie for a country like Croatia. Still burdened by the war which happened over 20 years ago,and today burdened by hard economic status which is not getting any better, Croats and Croatian cinematography, unfortunately, centers their themes around this widely known situations. And what is yet to be discovered is why Croatian cinematographers hesitate to explore less familiar grounds.

Ivona Juka is obviously not that kind of a filmmaker. Although she has admitted the story has some biographical elements, Juka's „You Carry Me" is nothing like the movies to which Croatian audience is used to. Powerful female characters dominate this three-way-divided story, presented in a non-traditional roles, which is rarely seen in such conservative society. Well written and smartly directed, „You Carry Me" will carry you to the new era of Croatian filmmaking. Made in co-production with Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro,it was expected Juka would search for actors outside the domesticborders. Fortunately, Vojislav Brajović was selected for the role, a Serbian actor who has probably won all the prizes there were to win in former Yugoslavia. Hence, my favorite story of all three is the first one, about demented father, whose daughter Ives (Lana Barić) is trying to cope with his illness.

But don't underestimate the power of the second story. Helena Beljan's debut role (Dora), for which she was awarded a prize in Pula Film Festival, is refreshing, and in great balance with acting of her outlawed father Vedran (Goran Hajduković), who also happens to be a first time actor. The idea of a little girl whose role model is a controversial football manager Zdravko Mamić (currently under investigation in Croatia), is so superb, and well executed.

And while watching the first two stories, I was wondering what's happening in the third one, and how can it possibly be better than the first two? And to be honest, I was hesitating in the beginning. The story of Nataša didn't seem special in any way, she was being cheated on, and she was trying to cope with it. But by the end of the third story (and the whole film), everything made sense. I won't reveal any more details, I'll let the viewers see for themselves why the third story was put right in the end, and why the exact title of the movie is „You Carry Me". The tag line of the movie is „No treason, no surrender".

So I'm inviting everyone not to surrender and not to lose hope in Croatian filmmaking. Just like all the characters in the movie, and every single person on this planet, Juka is trying to find her place under the sun. And she is doing it right – by doing what she probably loves the most – enriching our nation's „seventh art"