Atomic War Bride

Quite the dismal little film. It concerns a couple, who are blonde hair and blue eyed like everyone else in this Scandinavian future, who decide to get hitched just as the unnamed country they live in goes to war with another no-name country. The man of the couple, John Johnson (Anton Vrdoljak) gets shoved around and beaten down just about as much as any man can in a film, and yet still maintains his iron will and sunny disposition. I won't spoil the end, but it's pretty nihilistic. Watch it ONLY if you're in a good mood.

I find it astonishing that this film, which is merely a few months older than myself, has remained unknown to me until now. It stands out as a hidden gem within the treasure trove of Yugoslav cinema, so distinctive that it could easily be dismissed as an outlier in post-war filmmaking-much like the perspective of my film history instructors. Alternatively, one could appreciate it while examining the early works of Veljko Bulajic, a highly regarded director from socialist Yugoslavia.

Veljko Bulajic later went on to create one of the epic films of the Balkans, The Battle of Neretva. However, Atomic War Bride (originally titled Rat - simple War) does not belong to the realm of epic cinema. Instead, it can be characterized as a rather tedious amalgamation of well-intentioned yet simplistic messages, accompanied by some rather unfortunate humour. The primary responsibility for this lies with screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, known for his contributions to classics such as Shoeshine and The Bicycle Thief, among others. The characters John and Maria form a pleasant couple, embodying sweetness and attractiveness, but little else.

The film's satirical elements primarily target pompous officials and soldiers who make harsh and ruthless decisions. For instance, the Captain accepts a dinner invitation one moment, only to be ordered to execute John the next. John's best friend, who is unemployed, is offered a position in the army, only to find himself on John's firing squad. While the notion of keeping the country anonymous is commendable, the messages conveyed are thin, bleak, and predictable: War is BAD. Children, family and marriage are GOOD. Fighting is CRUEL. The comedic elements, largely consisting of military marching gags, fall short of being effective. Nevertheless, the haunting imagery of a man lamenting over his cow, struck down by aircraft, and the couple navigating through the devastation at the film's conclusion, evokes a powerful sense of loss reminiscent of Adam and Eve in a shattered world.

It is worth noting that this film should not be classified as a B-grade production; it was an international endeavour that featured Polish actress Ewa Krzyzewska (Maria), who won a French film award for her role in Ashes and Diamonds, as a leading star. Antun Vrdoljak was a young Yugoslav film star becoming very popular with the audience... plus, this film is not a low-budget production; it is evident that there was substantial collaboration from Tito's JNA (Yugoslav People's Army), and you could say that the sequences featuring jets in action are relatively sophisticated. The devastation depicted in the city closely resembles current reports from Palestine. However, the special effects are rather rudimentary. A particularly unusual moment occurs when the President changes the television feed to a camera mounted on the nose of one of his missiles. Spectators observe as the missile descends upon a crowd in a town square, portraying them as powerless victims akin to 'us.'

Obviously, this film did not enjoy a wide distribution, as evidenced by the fact that I never heard of it. I just found a fact that this film was reviewed by Variety during a festival in Pula, Yugoslavia, in August 1960. After it received a significant award, the reviewer expressed scepticism regarding the legitimacy of the competition. Still, for its uniqueness, it deserves all four stars!

For anyone who grew up in the 60's and faced the Cuban Missle crisis, this movie brings back the thoughts and feelings of the time. The world of two young people in love on their wedding day, are thrown into a Candide-Like whirlwind of change, challenges and the unknown. Our world today has forgotten the fear of every school child of that time, who ducked under a school desk, covering their heads with a schoolbook to stop the atomic radiation. This dark and honest look into their lives is a clear reflection of what we will face if we cannot overcome the same obstacles to peace that they faced in the movie. Funny and downright silly slapstick comedy in many scenes of the film is artfully juxtaposed with the harsh realities of the evil forces at work in this world. Everone must see this film so that they can understand the true nature of war, and what we can do to try to change the ultimate outcome of any war caused by the unreasonable pursuit of power for the sake of power, by those using the justifications provided by the cloak of government compartmentalization and self justification based on the supposed wishes of the masses. God bless John Johnson and Maria!

The outbreak of war disrupts a young couple's nuptial plans. This Yugoslavian black comedy blends near slapstick farce (such as the distribution of the anti-radiation suits or the camouflage lessons) with irony (pealing church-bells don't mean peace, they mean annihilation of the enemy), and political satire. Similar to Dr. Strangelove, the final punchline is the bomb going off. The scene in which the government announces that they have installed cameras on the war-heads so citizens can see the faces of the enemy just before the missiles hit is particularly inspired. Not surprisingly, rather than inciting blood-lust, personifying the enemy triggers the peace movement. The film is not subtle: war is a foolish, cruel, and unnecessary past-time driven from the elites regardless of the feelings of the people. This must have seemed an odd message to Western viewers, considering the film was made behind the 'Iron Curtain', where dissent and pacifism was routinely suppressed (or so we were told). Although there is certainly some timelessness to the message, 'War' (a translation of the original Serbo-Croatian title 'Rat') seems dated and almost quaint now, but is worth watching by anyone interested in political films of the era (from either side of the Curtain). The production values are quite impressive and if the scenes of military mobilisation were done using stock footage, the blending is seamless. I watched a reasonably well-done English-subtitled version on-line (called 'Atomic War Bride'). All in all, a novel example of cold-war era 'Atomic Bomb Cinema'.

Saw 12/14/2018. The film follows the adventures of a nearly married couple as the bombs start falling. After their interrupted wedding, here and there attempts at humor, but the point of the "jokes" is so predictable as to doom any comedic effect . And while not funny enough to make me laugh, those unsuccessful efforts come at the cost of any intended tears as we contemplate the nuclear annihilation of John Johnson, his titular inchoate spouse, and the world. Only marginally interesting because of the time of release, before the real life nuclear crises of Berlin in 1961 and Cuba the year after that. Much better: 1963's "Ladybug Ladybug" because it carries has the real sting of truth about it; and from 1962, "This Is Not a Test", offering a Sartrean take on nuclear war.